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4' 




THE WATCHER OF THE TRAIL 



BIG GAME 
HUNTING 

For Boys 

NORTH AMERICA AND ASIA 




BY JOHN HYDE 

ILLUSTRATED 

PUBLISHED BY 

ncLOUQHLIN BROTHERS 

NEW YORK 



LIBRARY 111 OONOHESSl 

Two Cioios «ix.:eivKd 

M.<\h 37 1907 

7K.oy^.. .J-y. 'f 07, 
CLASS A XXc,, No. 

COPY B. 



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BIG GAME HUNTING has a fascination 
for boys of all ages. There is something more 
to the sport than the mere running down and 
slaying of a rare animal. Every hunter knows 
that in following the world's most powerful 
creatures, whether in the Rocky Mountains, or 
in the swamps of Central Africa, or on the 
Veldt of the Transvaal, or in the Highlands of 
Tibet, he must have more than ordinary human 
pluck and endurance, for he can never tell at 
what moment he may have to face death in a 
rockslide, or be lost in a whirling snowstorm, 



or even run the risk of dying for lack of water 
in some sandy waste. 

Every boy who follows the big game becomes 
at once a man — and something more than a 
man — for besides learning the ways of the 
mighty beasts, he finds the love of the forests, 
jungles and rocks growing in his heart. Once 
he has felt the spirit of the silent places encom- 
passing him he will be changed. Never there- 
after will he quite forget the mystery-voice of 
the mountains, and the memories of majestic 
solitudes will abide with him forever. 




CUPYRiGHT 1907 BY McLOUGHLIN BROTHERS NEW YORK 




A HUGE GRIZZLY SKIN FROM WYOMING 





HOW OUR GREAT- 
GREAT-GRANDFATHERS 

WENT HUNTING. 




CONTENTS 

The Animals of North America 
The Grizzly Bear 
The Kodiak Bear 
The Black and Cinnamon Bears 
The Polar Bear 

The Musk Ox of the Barren Grounds 
The Buffalo in America 
The Big Horn 
The Rocky Mountain Goat 
The Moose 
The Caribou 

The Pronghorn or American Antelope 
The Wapiti 
The Muledeer 
The Virginia Deer 

The Animals of Asia 
The Tiger 

The Orang-Utan or Mias 
The Crocodile 
The Leopard 
The Rhinoceros 
The Elephant of Asia 
The Bantenge 
The Yak of Tibet 
Asiatic Bears 
Axis Deer 

The Black Buck of India 
The Siberian Wild Sheep 
Ibex Hunting in the Himalayas 
The Markhor 



NORTH AMERICAN HUNTING 




The Grizzly Bear 

The Kodiak Bear 

The Black and Cinnamon Bears 

The Polar Bear 

The Musk Ox of the Barren Grounds 

The Buffalo In America 

The Big Horn 

The Rocky Mountain Goat 

The Moose 

The Caribou 

The Pronghorn or American Antelooe 

The Wapiti 

The Muledeer 

The Virginia Deer 



i 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



In writing of big game animals it is only natural that an 
American should deal with his own country first ; but there are 
other than patriotic reasons. The United States presents a 
list of game creatures, wing, foot and claw, that any other 
nation may well envy. The fact must be borne in mind that 
a country as large as ours has many varieties of land, and 
more especially of climate, varying from the burning plains of 
Arizona and New Mexico to the cold North-Western regions. 

The first animals worthy of attention are the Bears, and here 
it will be seen at a glance that the collective States are better 
represented than any other part of the world. In fact the two 
largest bears known to exist are found in Alaska and our 
Western states. The general opinion seems to be that the bear 
is entided to be called the " Dean of American Animals." 

Let us first consider the most famous member of the family, 
the Grizzly Bear. Legions of hunters, naturalists, trappers 
and writers have argued over the relative merits or demerits of 
the size, strength, pluck and fighting capacity of the grizzly bear. 
A very able authority, one who has had large experience with 
all kinds of bears, has said that it is impossible to lay down 
hard and fast rules when dealing with grizzly, for of all animals 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



it shows the most contradictory phases of character. There 
are stories told of this great bear showing it as putting up a 
fight of the most desperate character, and on the other hand 
stories, equally true, relate incidents of its displaying the most 
arrant cowardice. In a word, where men have related personal 
experiences, it is safe to say that they all are telling the truth, 
although from their accounts the bear may thus appear in 
many lights. Let us examine a few of these interesting stories 
and we shall see how diverse the evidence is. 

A professional hunter in Northern Wyoming one day came 
across the fresh trail in the snow of a large bear. He followed 
it up as quickly as he could, for the snow was only a few 
inches deep. Suddenly the trail turned off sharply and the 
hunter paused. For he knew full well that the grizzly might 
have winded him, although hardly a breath of air was stirring. 

The grizzly is a very cautious animal and at times will turn 
the tables and appear to stalk the hunter ; at any rate an attack 
of a big bear from behind is most disconcerting and dangefous. 

To return to our story, the hunter listened for a few minutes 
and thought he heard far away the sound of snapping twigs. 
This reassured him, and again he went forward, but with great 
caution. The trail lead past a clump of firs, beyond which 
was a rocky place, not broken up to any great extent. The 
bear at that moment was leisurely making its way to the shelter 
on the far side. The hunter immediately fired, but his shot 
went low and did no particular damage except to rouse the 
bear to fury. It swung round and charged with lighting 
speed. Its shambling gait might have deceived a novice but 
not an old experienced hand. The hunter stood his ground, 
and allowed the bear to come within ten yards, when he 
planted a second shot in the right shoulder, and at the same 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



time, sprang nimbly to one side. Through the smoke came a 
huge paw, with its ugly three-inch curved claws, making a 
vicious " side swipe." The bear wheeled again and charged, 
this time getting a bullet in the other shoulder. But this rascal 
was cunning, and judging that the hunter would again step to 
one side it swerved a little too. The next thing the hunter 
knew was that while the claws had narrowly missed him, 
he himself was knocked sprawling by the whole weight of the 
bear. The huge beast stumbled over the prostrate man and 
fell dead some twenty yards further on. This was pure luck, 
for had the bear charged a third time it would have been all 
up with the hunter. 

This story illustrates a vicious and genuine charge of a 
grizzly. Most of the "charges" that hunters report are not 
made so much with intent to attack its enemy as to get awa}^ 
Quite often, if smokeless powder is used, and the hunter is well 
hidden, the bear may be confused and rush for safety right 
over the spot where the hunter lies concealed. Therefore 
there is some truth in the statement that the majority of the 
exciting so-called "charges" of a grizzly that hunters narrate 
with great gusto, are only the result of panic, not a deliberate 
attempt to kill the enemy. 

On another occasion a group of hunters came upon a large 
grizzly busily engaged m clawing a wild bees nest out of a 
broken tree stump. One of the hunters whistled, and the bear 
wheeled around in surprise. The first shot entered the upper 
part of the shoulders, but did not do much damage. With a 
snarl the bear rose on its hind legs and stood looking at its 
enemies and then it got down on all fours and came towards 
the hunters. The men scattered at once, and by luck one of 
them paralysed the bear's hind quarters. In all fourteen well 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 

aimed shots entered the bear before it was killed. This is an 
instance of the bear's marvellous tenacity of life, and the 
experience of these hunters is not unusual. 

A hunter, well known to the writer, came across a grizzly 
drinking from a small stream at the bottom of a canyon in the 
Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. The man approached the 
bear so suddenly that their surprise was mutual. The bear 
stood perfectly still staring at the intruder. The hunter fired 
at close range, and the bear dropped dead at a single shot. An 
examination of the skull made later, showed that the bullet had 
entered the nostril and had passed through the heavy bones, 
shattering the back of the skull. The skin was very large, but 
it should have been taken a few weeks earlier, for the fur would 
then have been in prime condition. 

In hunting grizzlies, or in fact any of the bear family, it is 
well to remember that they often roam in pairs. On one 

occasion a hunter 
brought down, with 
a couple of neck 
shots, a small 
grizzly, and was 
leaning over exam- 
ining the body, 
when hearing a 
rustle behind him, 
he turned his head 
just in time to see 
the mate charging 
him. The hunter 
was knocked down 
at once, and a few 







THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



hours later his camp mates found his Hfeless body badly clawed 
and torn and the skull crushed in. 

A story is told of some hunters surprising a grizzly while 
it was feeding a litter of cubs. After a desperate fight the mother 
was killed, and a wild scramble took place to capture the cubs. 
The little things bit and scratched like fiends, but finally all 
were gathered in and secured but one, and the rest were then 
carried back to the log 
cabin. The men were 
really on a trapping, not a 
shooting, expedition. The 
next morning they had 
occasion to go to a line 
of traps on the other side 
of the mountains, and 
were to spend the night 
in a shelter hut. Before 
they left they placed food 
on the floor for the cubs, 
and then turned them 
loose in the cabin. On 
their return, however, 
about twenty-four hours 
later, they found their 
cabin door smashed open, 
the interior looking as if 
a cyclone had visited it. 
The heavy marks of a 
bear were all around and 
the cubs had vanished. 
It appears that the old 




THE GRIZZLY BEAR 




male had followed the trail, and after satisfying itself that the 
men were not about, it had rescued its cubs. From the state 
of the hut it looked as though it had been deliberately wrecked. 
A ranchman in North-West Wyoming told the writer he had 
been gready troubled by a huge grizzly bear that insisted on 
raiding his pork larder. All bears, especially black bears, are 
very fond of pork, alive or dead, and will take considerable 
risks to gain the coveted dainties. The cowboys had tried 
every means to clear the grizzly out, such as poison, traps and 
guns. No door seemed to be strong enough to keep the huge 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



beast away, for it had wrecked an Iron-bound door as if it had 
been made of match-wood, with one blow of its huge paw. 
At length an unsportsmanlike scheme was tried. A bucket 
was half filled with sweet molasses, and to this was added 
nearly two gallons of Jamaica rum. Then the tempting bait 
was left just outside the door of the pork larder. During the 
night the bear came down from the mountain and as it cautiously 
approached the larder it smelt the rum and molasses. It sat 
down on its haunches, looking in the half light for all the 
world like a huge shaggy tramp. It put its paw into the 
bucket, and then licked it with approval. Finally it drank the 
entire contents, and the next morning was found sitting with 
its back against the pork house, smiling broadly, and hopelessly 
drunk. It was then an easy matter to kill it. 

There is a story told of the attack of a grizzly on a bull elk. 
The bear did not get a good hold, and the elk lashed with its 
horns, inflicting terrible wounds on its huge enemy. The 
strength of the bear conquered in the end, but not until it had 
had an awful tussle. These fights are not very frequent, for 
experienced hunters have gone for years without witnessing 
one. In the majority of cases we imagine the weight of the 
bear would insure it victory. 

In hunting the grizzly the youngster should remember that it 
is a very dangerous animal, to him at any rate, and chiefly on 
account of its tenacity of life. A shot that would kill a moose 
or wapiti appears to have but little, or no effect, on a grizzly. 
It must be borne in mind that it is no earthly use to "pot" at 
a grizzly. A score of body wounds will not stop it, but only 
increase its fury. Hold your shot until the bear is close at 
hand, and then fire at a vital spot; unless you do this you 
might as well save the powder and shots as well as your life. 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR 



Once in a while the grizzly makes trouble among the cattle. 
A ranchman, while looking at his stock, saw a grizzly approach 
a herd of cattle which was presided over by a fine bull. The 
bear came on slowly, growling angrily the while. The cows 
at once ran away to safety but the old bull was made of sterner 
stuff and advanced to the attack. When about ten yards apart 
both creatures stood still for a while, each one waiting for the 
other to start the trouble. After several minutes the bull 
charged, and then the fight was on in earnest. The ranchman 
did not take a hand in it but stayed perfectly still to see what 
would happen. 

The fight w^as waged with great fury and the odds appeared 
to be in favor of the bear, for the bull was streaming with 
blood from wounds inflicted by its antagonist's claws. Suddenly 
the battle took another turn, for the bull ripped the bear's 
shoulder badly and immediately it let go its hold and shuffled 
away. The bull seemed to have had enough too, for it did 
not attempt to follow up its advantage. Later on the ranch- 
man found it was necessary to destroy the bull, for the grizzly 
had mauled it until it was all but a cripple. 

Every cattle ranch has similar experiences to tell. Taken 
on the whole however the grizzly could hardly be called a 
cattleman's pest. In the vast majority of battles the bear 
would win for its strength and endurance are far beyond those 
of any animal that it is likely to meet. The grizzly does not 
like fresh meat, but it will eat from a carcase that has been 
dead some time. 

All other animals are inclined to give the grizzly a wide 
berth, and not without reason, for it will not let any other quad- 
ruped invade its domains. Might is right with a vengeance 
from the grizzly's standpoint. 



THE KODIAK BEAR 

The American people can well be proud of the fact that within 
the limits of their territory is found, what is without doubt, the 
most gigantic bear in the world ; a bear beside which its black 
cousin looks like a cub, while even the mighty grizzly has to 
take second place. This is the little-known Kodiak Bear, so 
called after the island of Alaska on which it was first found. 

It appears that the Alaskan natives must have known of this 
beautiful, golden-tinted creature for ages, but travellers and 
explorers have paid no attention, thinking that the stories were 
grossly exaggerated. It appears now that the bear was all 
that the natives claimed for it, and it is not without reason that 
they held it in awe. This bear has high forward shoulders, 
and in many respects it looks like an enlarged grizzly. Its 
appearance impresses one at once ; for its enormous strength 
and bulk make it tower above its fellows. 

This bear has only been known for a few years and there Is 
still much to be learnt regarding its habits. At the present 
time even its range is not positively known. One thing seems 
certain and that is that it is a savage beast and one to be mightily 
feared by any hunter. Other natives of Alaska, farther to the 
north and on the mainland, have legends about a huge " Red 
Bear." The authorities are of opinion that the Red bear and 
the Kodiak bear are one and the same animal. 

This bear's fur Is of a very fine quality and is exceptionally 
long, as It would need to be owing to the extremely cold 
latitude in which It Is found. 

The majority of hunters, on first hearing of the Kodiak 
bear, jumped to the conclusion that it was simply a huge 
grizzly, similar to the type found on the Barren Grounds, but 
it is now certain that this giant from Alaska Is really in a 
class all by Itself. 



I^- ■;;»?♦' 




THE LAST LOOK AROUND BEFORE THE WINTERS SLEEP 



THE BLACK AND CINNAMON BEARS 

When the average American speaks of a "bear" he usually 
means a Black Bear, for this fine animal has been met with in 
nearly every state in the union, and in many localities it is still 
numerous. The black bear is also to be found across the 
frontier, practically all over Canada. 

The fur of the black bear is very fine, and it is put to a 
variety of uses from rugs to soldiers helmets. In size these 
bears vary quite a good deal, the larger ones being found in the 
Northern states. 

The writer witnessed, only a year or so ago, a bear hunt in 
the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The local farmers 
had been greatly pestered by several black bears that had taken 
to killing their pigs in a wholesale manner. They organised a 
party, among which were a number of good hunters and a 
pack of fierce cur-dogs. A man, who had crossed the moun- 
tains that day, reported having seen some bears not many miles 
away. This was encouraging, but still the hunters knew that 
these large creatures will travel great distances in twenty-four 
hours, especially if they have been attacked or alarmed. 

However an early start was made the next morning, and 
while passing a farm the party beheld its angry owner ruefully 
surveying a wrecked and empty pig-pen. This looked as if 
the game was not very far away. The trail of the bears was soon 
picked up, and as it was quite fresh, it was silently followed. 
In the midst of the beech woods two big bears were sighted, 
quietly feeding on some berries. Before they could take alarm, 
one fell dead, and the other was badly wounded. The second 
bear however showed considerable fight, mangling several dogs 
of the party and a dozen shots were necessary to dispatch it. 
Inside of an hour three small bears were found, and killed 
without any great difficulty. It appeared afterwards that all 



THE BLACK AND CINNAMON BEARS 

five bears belonged to one happy family, — father, mother, 
and three well-grown cubs. 

The reader must not get the Idea that black bears are always 
handled in such summary fashion, for the death role of im- 
prudent and inexperienced hunters is fairly large. A boy, well 
known to the writer, had an experience that is worth recording 




with a black bear, near his home in the Catskill Mountains. 
He had only a good shot-gun with him, but fairly heavy shot 
and smokeless powder. He came upon a bear quite suddenly. 
He knew enough of the creature's temper not to fire. The 
bear after getting over its first surprise advanced growling 
angrily. The boy waited until it was only five yards oi so 
away when he gave it both barrels full in the face, and fled for 



THE BLACK AND CINNAMON BEARS 




his life. The bear seemed stunned for a moment or two and 
then made off in another direction, fiHing the woods with its 
howls of pain and rage. The boy did not stop running until 
he got home. When he told his story he was promptly 
branded a liar, but the dead body of the bear was found the 
next day, near a stream a mile from where it was shot. The 
cause of death seems to have been the loss of its eyes. 

One day a hunter heard the sounds of a battle royal going 
on in a belt of fir trees some distance from where he was 
standing. He ran forward to the place and found a pair of 
bears in deadly conflict. They were howling and coughing 
and screaming like demons, at times gripping paws and then 
rolling over and over like wrestlers. They bit and clawed at 
each other with the utmost fury. The hunter not being " loaded 
for bear" could do nothing but look on, which he did with 
great interest. At length one bear gave up and fled. 



THE BLACK AND CINNAMON BEARS 

There Is a bear, much rarer than its black cousin, known as 
the Cinnamon Bear. The authorities on animals have defin- 
itely decided that the cinnamon bear is nothing more than a 
brown-colored black bear, and not at all a separate species as 
hitherto had been believed. There has been a good deal of 
discussion and protest against this classification, but the natur- 
alists are learned men, and they base their decision on sound 




scientific grounds. Many hunters declare that the cubs of the 
two animals are not alike. That is true, for there are instances 
of brown-colored cubs being found in a black bear's litter, and 
black cubs in a cinnamon bear's litter. This is an argument 
of course for the scientific classification as laid down. 

The size and bulk of the cinnamon bear is, if anything, 
greater than that of the black bear, and in some states it nearly 
reaches the proportions of the grizzly. The cinnamon bear 
has a bad reputation for having an ugly temper, for of all 



THE BLACK AND CINNAMON BEARS 

American bears it is the most quarrelsome and is said to rarely 
miss a chance of provoking a row with its arch-enemy — man. 
However it does not always show fight, as a lady, a friend of 
the writer's, can testify. She met a cinnamon bear on a hillside 
path within ten miles of San Francisco. She was terribly 
frightened, but the bear also seemed disconcerted ; at any rate 
both retreated in great disorder. 

Not infrequently the cinnamon bear is trapped, and then it 
is a demon to deal with. Unless the trap is of exceptional 
strength the bear will get away, even if it has to sacrifice a 
paw in the attempt. Getting a bear out of a trap is a risky 
job, for on the approach of a man, the brute's efforts to escape, 
or attack its enemy, become frantic and unless the chains are 
sound the hunter is likely to be mauled. 

In hunting for black bear, a heavy straight-shooting rifle 
should be used, such as would bring down a large grizzly. All 
bears are tenacious of life and the black bear is no exception. 
Its vital spots are few in number, and above all things it is 
necessary to be cool and reserve the fire. What we have said 
in the case of the grizzly also applies to these bears, and that 
is blind blazing away with guns at an enraged bear is useless, 
if not positively dangerous. The novice had better try his 
hand at smaller game. It is not a bad scheme to hunt black 
bears with dogs, but only strong and fierce ones should be 
used. The dogs should be trained to work silently, and not 
give tongue until they are close upon their quarry. The 
hunter must expect to have some of his dogs maimed or killed 
if they succeed in bringing the bear to bay. 

The black bear has considerable speed and, as a rule, when 
it detects its man-enemy its first instinct is to run away with 
its silent, shambling gallop. 




POLAR BEARS IN THE SPRING 




THE POLAR BEAR 

The real monarch of the Polar Regions is the Great White 
Bear. This huge beast is never found very far inland but 
stays along the edge of the ice pack, and fights with the walrus, 
or catches seals when they are foolish enough to come near its 
haunts. Its method of enticing seals within its reach is clever. 
It digs a hole about three feet across in the ice-field, where it 
is not frozen very thick. Then the bear, who is nearly the 
color of the ice, crouches down and waits for its prey. The 

seals seeing an air hole, come up to it 
at once. The instant they show their 
heads above water the bear either strikes 
them dead, or claws them out on the ice. 
Once in a while whalers report having 
seen a number of seals mobbinof a bear, 
to the extent of swimming about, just out of its reach, and 
barking a loud chorus of derision. 

Terrific battles take place between the walrus and the polar 
bears, and if the walrus is near the water it will strug^orle to eet 
to it. Sometmies a bear tries to get between the walrus and 
the ocean, but if it should be pushed into the water it would 
go hard with it, for the walrus would surely come off victor. On 
looking at a polar bear you get the impression that it must be 
a good swimmer. Its chops are not puffy like the grizzly's, 
while its head is very flat on top and clean at the sides. As a 
matter of fact it is a magnificent swimmer and has been known 
to cross open straits nearly twenty miles wide. 

The majority of polar bears that are captured come from 
sealers and far north traders. The specimens seen in Zoological 
collections are nearly always cubs that have been born in 
captivity or captured while very young in the North. The 
whalers sometimes kill the she-bear and then the task of secur- 



THE POLAR BEAR 




ing the cubs is very easy. It would be too much of a contract 
for any body of men to attempt to trap a full grown bear. The 
chances are a hundred to one, that it would never be secured 
until it had received a mortal injury in the fight, to say nothing 
of the damage it would do to the men. 

Once in a while the white bear comes far 
south. A hunter came across a bear on a small 
island and before he succeeded in killing it he was 
in serious doubts as to whether he would escape 
alive. The ground was icy and dangerous for 
the man to travel over. The bear's paws on the other hand, 
being formed for walking on ice with great speed, gave it an 
enormous advantage. But for a lucky shot entering the heart 
the hunter mio:ht never have lived to tell the tale. 

Sometimes a polar bear is seen afloat on an iceberg in the 
North Atlantic and its plight is then very miserable indeed, for 
certain death stares it in the face. As the berg travels to the 
warm gulf stream, its floating home day by day grows steadily 

smaller. At length it has to 
choose between two evils 
starvation or being drowned. 
The polar bears seen in 
captivity are usually ver)' 
friendly and playful and they 
survive the summer's heat 
fairly well. Cold weather has 
absolutely no effect on them 
whatever. The range of the polar bear is very wide for it is 
met with all through the Arctic Circle. Huge skins have been 
brought from Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen and even from 
the North Coasts of Siberia. 




THE MUSK OX OF THE BARREN GROUNDS 

Far away in the Northern part of the Dominion of Canada 
between 55 and 65 degrees of latitude, to the North West 
of Hudson's Bay, near where the Slave and Mackenzie rivers 
flow away to the Arctic Ocean, there lies a huge stretch of land 
known as the Barren Grounds. Its name is ominous enough 
and naturally it has not been earned without reason. 

Let the hunter visit this land in the summer months, when 
its hills are green with new grass, Its trees in leaf, its lakes and 
rivers teeming with fish, while the uplands shelter myriads of 
wild fowl, and above all the almost continuous daylight, he 
would get the idea that the land was not so bad after all ; 
but the hunter must look deeper. Let him dig a few inches into 
the soil and he will find it as hard as a rock, or let him examine 
secluded inlets of the lakes and in high summer he will still 
find thick ice lurking in the shady spots. These things are 
warnings and they clearly show that the land puts on its 
summer garb only for a litde while. But the Barren Grounds 
in winter — the water fowl have fled to the South, the deer and 
caribou moved to the great forests or the sea coasts. 

Desolation is everywhere. Deep snow has blotted out hills, 
trees and tiny streams alike, the lakes are all but frozen solid. 
The hunter who would go very far into this land at such a 
time faces certain starvation. There is practically no food to 
be obtained and not even lumber to build a fire with, every- 
thing is buried deep under a vast winding sheet of snow. 

The very animals found on the Barren Grounds in summer 
seem to be in a hurry, always appearing to have one eye on 
the encroaching enemy, the Arctic winter, for the birds know 
only too well that the berries they love may at any moment 
be frozen before they have time to ripen, and their fledglings 
covered in snow on the nests ere they are strong enough to 



THE MUSK OX OF THE BARREN GROUNDS 




fly to the South. The 
summer thaws show the 
of the previous 



tragedies 



winter's freeze. 

But strange to say there 
is one huge animal that 
braves the winter, caring 
nothino; for Arctic grales 
and blinding snow storms, 
and stays comfortably 
where it is all the year 
round and this is the Musk 
Ox. This splendid creature 
appears to be unmoved by 
changes of climate that 
would kill another animal, 
for all other creatures have 
given way to it. Far up 
into Greenland the musk 
ox holds sway, for there is 
none to dispute its rule. 
The great creature is not 
cautious or wary, for it has been accustomed so long to have 
nature shut the doors tighdy behind that it will not take the 
trouble, as a rule, to get away from a hunter. In summer time 
the fur of the musk ox is worth very little, but in the depth of 
winter it is very fine, and it takes a hunter of hardy courage to 
follow it even to the outskirts of the forbidden land. Only in 
the last year have accounts reached the United States of a 
party in Labrador, which might be called the North East 
frontier of the Barren Lands, dying miserably of starvation. 



THE MUSK OX OF THE BARREN GROUNDS 

The Indians hunt the Musk Ox throughout the summer 
just to lay in a supply of meat. In the early winter they go 
farther afield carrying their fuel with them, but more than one 
expedition has been wiped out through the fuel being 
exhausted and no orame met with. Ouite often the brave 
hunters are seized with a panic and a rush takes place to the 
nearest station, their weakness and despair being lashed into 




desperation by the spectre of starvation. It is true that the 
wolves make trouble for the musk ox, but they will not tackle 
a full grown bull unless they are in a pretty desperate state ; 
for there are so many other animals, the caribou for instance, 
that make easier killing. Taken on the whole, the musk ox 
may be said to be remarkably free from enemies and it owes 
this mainly to its geographical position in the world. 



THE MUSK OX OF THE BARREN GROUNDS 




If a very large pack of wolves attack a band of musk oxen, 
the old bulls generally get the cows and the young ones in- 
side presenting a formidable front to the enemy and as a rule 
the wolves retire after getting the worst of it. In the warmer 
months the old bulls wander singly and they are then as 



THE MUSK OX OF THE BARREN GROUNDS 

dangerous as they look. The hunter must be a good shot and 
use a heavy soft-nosed bullet, for the musk ox is no tame 
creature and it takes considerable killing ; furthermore it 
must be borne well in mind that if a sturdy old bull is 
only slightly but painfully wounded, it will make things lively 
until it is stopped. There is no great caution needed in stalk- 
ing the game, for as we have said, the beasts will not take 
much trouble to get away unless you are in a region that has 
been vigorously hunted over. The Indians round up the musk 
oxen and try to trap them crossing a river or lake where the 
ice will not bear their weight and a sickening butchery takes 
place. The musk ox does not like to swim and only on 
desperate occasions will it cross a wide lake. When seen 
swimming it gives one the impression of being top heavy — in 
fact it is a poor swimmer and it is doubtful if it could go very 
far without considerable danger to itself 

A well known hunter once reported having found the dead 
body of a musk ox floating in a small lake and from his own 
observations he came to the conclusion that it had been 
drowned. It is just possible that it had fallen through unsafe 
ice and become exhausted in its efforts to climb out. At any 
rate there was no spear or shot wound on the body. 

Occasionally the musk ox is seen in captivity, for it lives in 
our Zoos apparently with the utmost contentment, not sighing 
for its northern home at all. The great creatures are not 
easily tamed, for they always remain sulky and very uncertain 
in temper. In size they are not as large as the American 
buffalo but their shaggy coats make them appear bulkier than 
they really are. The skin when taken at the coldest season of 
the year makes extremely handsome fur. 



THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA 

The reader may ask, what has the Buffalo to do with big game 
hunting? The answer is, very httle, but there is a moral that 
adorns the tale. 

Every young American should know the ugly history of the 
buffalo so that he may in years to come profit by his ancestors' 
mistakes and do his part in preventing their occurrence again. 

In a word the history of the buffalo is a blot on the fair name 
of the United States — a thing we would all like to pass over. 
None of us care to contemplate a page of our history that 
shows us guilty of an act of ignorance and brutality that would 
shame a savage nation. 

When the American people were in the midst of their 
struggle for liberty huge herds of buffalo roamed all over the 
country as far East as the states of Tennessee, Ohio and 
Kentucky but the first years of the nineteenth century found the 
poor beast already driven to the other side of the Mississippi 
river. Great inroads had been made on the herds before the 
war, but it was after peace that the real relentless slaughter 
began. Three things led to the extinction of the buffalo. 
The first was the gradual spread of " civilization " In the west ; 
secondly, the improvement in the range and hitting powers of 
the rifle; and thirdly, the building of the railroad across the 
continent. The year 1865 saw the beginning of the end of the 
buffalo, and by 1880 the bloody work had been completed. 
Today it is said that there are less than one thousand animals 
all told left in the entire country. 

Buffalo hunting was comparatively easy, the beasts were not 
hard to approach and the only danger lay in getting in the 
way of a stampede, for once in a while the huge creatures would 
be seized with panic and would rush off in such numbers that 
nothing could withstand their flight. 



THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA 



When the Union Pacific Railway was built a large section 
of the West became suddenly accessible. The railroad men 
slew the buffalo for meat and it must be confessed that they 
murdered tons where pounds would have sufficed. Then there 
grew up a demand m the East for buffalo robes and there- 
upon the West was invaded by hordes of skin hunters. 

The spirit of murder seemed to infect all classes, for at 
times Union Pacific trains would go out with loads of passen- 
gers who looked from their guns as if they were going to war. 
If the train ran across a herd, which was a common enough 
occurrence in those days, a stop would be made and everyone 
would get out and shoot, engineers, conductors, messengers 
passengers — both men, boys and even women. The poor 
beasts would go down by scores and others limp away badly 
wounded or with a shattered limb as a testimony to the bad 
marksmanship. Buffaloes shot in the eye and not fatally wounded 
would roll in agony and as often as not no merciful shot would 
put them out of their misery. The herd would at last get 
away, then the train would move on and the passengers get 
back into the cars and brag of their hunting, leaving the 
prairie strewn with bodies and sodden with blood. A train of 
twenty cars would often have been insufficient to carry away 
the dead killed by a few carloads of people. It seemed as 
though the men of those days had gone blood mad. This 
sort of slaughter went on until in this year of grace not one 
single specimen out of the herds of millions is left alive in a 
wild condition ! It is not a pretty story but it is not a bad one 
to read and remember. The awful fate of the buffalo has 
not been without its effect. There is a growing tendency to 
preserve our splendid game creatures, to study their habits 
and to show more mercy and intelligence. 



THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA 



We have never decried legitimate hunting. There is all the 
difference between maiming a beast from a car window, where 
you know you can't carry away the trophy and not even be 
sure that you hit it, being only possessed by the insane desire 
to destroy life ; and the sportsman who still-hunts the moose, 
following its trail for days through heart-breaking country, 
matching man-skill against animal-skill and then shooting with 
knowledge at a vital spot and killing the game dead. Real 
hunters don't kill for the sake of killing, they don't leave a trail 
of useless dead behind them, for paradoxical as it may seem, 
in a vague way they respect life. 

The sight of a herd of buffalo, numbering perhaps thousands, 
must have been awe-inspiring. A letter to an old hunter who 
had known the buffalo in the war days brings this characteristic 
reply — "you ask me about the buffalo — well where can I 
begin ? I could write to you for days without exhausting the 
subject. However, in glancing back now I may say that the 
most impressive moment of my life was my first encounter 
with a mighty herd. We had trailed all one hot day towards 
a rocky hill where we intended to camp. Just at sunset far away 
on the horizon we beheld for the first time through the dust 
clouds the faint outline of a large herd. It was too near 
dark to start a hunt then so we decided to wait until morninpf. 
We were safely encamped among great boulders near a steep 
bluff. During the night the herd came up and passed close 
to our camp. I was young in those days but I confess that 
my heart was in my mouth during those dark hours. First 
were heard the measured thunder of the army's tramp, tramp ! 
Then came suffocating dust clouds and all the while we could 
see nothing, but could only listen. The beasts were so close 
that the grunting and snorting of the bulls were plainly heard. 



THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA 



The night was made further hideous by the howls and wails 
of hundreds of coyotes and big wolves that hung like camp 
followers about the outskirts of the moving army. Occasionally 
we could hear the vicious snap of wolves, followed by the 
piteous cries of a baby buffalo — then a pause would ensue, a 
scuffle and the angry gruntings of an old bull that was battling 
for his own. Sometimes the snarls would die away indicating 
that the thieves had been routed, but more often we heard the 




hideous snarl-shriek of agony as some daring woll, holding 
onto its prey too long had been ground to the earth beneath 
the mighty head of some great bull. I felt myself that our 
expedition was all over, for there wouldn't be a buffalo in sight 
by sunrise, but I was wrong. The first streaks of dawn showed 
us everywhere a living sea of huge beasts all moving steadily 
in one direction. What had been a rugged bluff the night 
before, novv' looked as though a giant's hand had smoothed and 
rounded it off. The passage of countless feet had leveled the 
ground in every direction for several miles. 



THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA 




There is no need to give you the details of the day's hunt. It 
is enough to say that we had all we wanted. It was well along 
in the middle of the afternoon before the last of the herd had 
vanished. But what is the use of writing more? You know as 
well as I do that the buffalo is a closed chapter of our country 
and the less said of it the better." This letter is surely a true 
description of what was then a common occurrence in the lives 
of hunters of the West in those days. 



THE BIGHORN 

The very name of "Bighorn" conjures up In the mind pictures 
of struggles among the crags, breathless rushes across moun- 
tain sides, enduring blinding snow storms. No hunter can 
follow this noble animal unless he has more than the ordinary 
supply of pluck, and he will also need sound lungs, keen eyes 
and strong muscles besides. The hunting of no other animal can 
be said to so thoroughly test the sportsman, and bring out 
every ounce that is in him, for once a boy can show a big 
horn sheep's head that he has killed himself he can write his 
name large for ever after. 

The mountain sheep have the keenest senses ; their alertness 
has become proverbial for they are always on the watch. The 
faintest suspicious sound, wafted up the side of a ridge by a 
fitful gust of wind, is enough to send the flock across the 
mountains so that they may be seen, but never reached again 
that day. The hunter may all but successfully stalk his game 
when he has the misfortune to run across an eagle whose 
angry screams warn the sheep for miles around. If a small 
animal is flushed and scampers away, the sheep know only too 
well that what is dangerous for it, is a menace also to them, and 
off^ they go. A friend of the writer's once summed up sheep 
hunting as *' heart-breaking." 

The bighorn does not choose, as its abiding place, such 
difficult country as the Ibex of India or the Thar of the 
Caucasus, but its watchfulness makes it a match for any man. 
The novice on his first hunt can hardly expect to make a kill 
unless he has a mighty streak of good luck, for there is a saying 
which runs " the wild sheep never sleep," and it would seem 
as if there were some truth in it. 

There are half a dozen distinct varieties of the bighorn 
sheep, each one shading into the next ; the difference of locality 




GETTING NEAR THE BIGHORN COUNTRY 



THE BIGHORN 



and food seeming to account for the slight variations. 

The bighorn is found in Montana, Nevada, Utah, the 
Dakotas and CaHfornia, but at the present time the sheep in 
those states are enjoying a closed time, and will continue to do 
so until about 191 2. In Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon the big- 
horn may be shot, but with restrictions as to number, and 
removal from the state. At any rate, In all these states the 
killing of the ewes is strictly forbidden at any time. 

A friend of the writer's, who has been a sheep hunter for 
many years, recommends following the sport alone, unless the 
companion be a silent-footed, close-mouthed Indian, for there is 
no room for mistakes with the bighorn. After a careful day's 
stalk, a sneeze, a stumble, an overturned rock or a snapped 
twig may undo the whole labor. This hunter states that he 
once spied a bighorn on the ledge of a precipice, and waiting 
till It had rounded a corner out of sight, then, the wind being 
in the right direction, he scrambled after it. But his hunting 
instincts got the better of his caution, and when he came to a 
rock he could not climb. It dawned upon him that he was in a 
position from which if he escaped with his life he would be 
lucky. After coolly surveying his plight he saw that the 
only thing he could do was to go down to a lower rock ledge. 
Few men, unless they are trained mountaineers realize that in 
rock climbing It Is easier to go up than down. You can 
nearly always see what is ahead of you, while in going down 
you are not half as certain. In this case the hunter had to 
make a clear drop of about four feet, a short distance to be 
sure, but in case he did not land exactly or his body swerved 
out he saw several hundred feet yawning to receive him. 

Another unpleasant thing was that once he was down it 
was by no means clear that his difficulties would then be over. 



THE BIGHORN 



At anyrate after a moment's thought he took the risk and 
landed safely. Then he found it was necessary to round the 
rock corner on the open face of the cliff. Just as he was 
suspended in mid-air, so to speak, he caught sight of the big- 
horn quietly watching him as though it were fully aware that 
the hunter needed his both hands and feet to retain his hold. 







Then the sheep, having satisfied its curiosity, moved on slowly, 
leaving the hunter with very mixed feelings. 

However, climb number two proved to be much easier than 
climb number one, and after reaching safety, the hunter saw to 
his chagrin that if he had gone two hundred feet higher up 
he would have passed the bluff without any difficulty. With 
a strong effort of will he pulled himself together, for he was 
shaking all over, and after allowing a minute or two for his 



THE BIGHORN 



heart to quiet down, he made his way slowly to the top of the 
ridge. Going over to the far side a safe distance he set off at 
an easy trot, for he was now travelling on fairly clear ground. 
He made a mile or more In this fashion, and then coming to a 
small ravine, he dived down it about one hundred and fifty 
feet. He knew the wind was in the wrong direction but there 
was nothing to do but to take chances, for to follow a sheep 
that has once started a man would need to be a sort of a 
combination of greyhound, goat and panther. 

The hunter calculated that he was well above the bighorn, 
and In a few minutes he was rewarded by a sight of the 
beautiful creature coming along quite swiftly. He waited till 
it passed near a big rock and then fired, making an awful 
miss! The sheep was travelling quickly, but the noise and 
absence of smoke seemed for an instant to confuse It, for It must 
have thought that its enemy was behind. At anyrate It 
paused a moment on a rock and with the second crack of the 
rifle it dropped dead in Its tracks. So the hunter got his game 
after all. 

On the islands off the coast of California, a very fine variety 
of the bighorn Is found, but it is extremely difficult to shoot. 
The land is high at Its centre and sloping always to the sea, 
so that in stalking the game, the hunter is likely to be seen 
while he is several ridges away, whereas In the Rockies the 
unevenness of the ranges gives a better chance to come upon 
the sheep unawares. 

The writer has followed the bighorn on these islands for 
several days at a time, and so far has never obtained a speci- 
men. The nearest approach to a kill was one day when a 
sheep was sighted far up on a steep hillside. After a lengthy 
stalk, under a hot sun and over blinding sandy wastes. It was 



THE BIGHORN 



possible to take a long shot. The hit was clean and the sheep 
rolled head over heels for several hundred feet down the slope. 
But on examination the prize proved to be no bighorn at all 
but a very fine tame ram, which later made a series of good 
meals, but from a hunting standpoint left the hunter open to the 
jeers of equally unsuccessful companions. They solaced them- 
selves with the fact that at anyrate they had not been stupid 
enough to kill an inoffensive domestic creature. At that great 
distance the ram looked all right, and without glasses it could 
not be distinguished from its wild brother. 

As a matter of fact huge flocks of sheep range over these 
islands and not infrequently become mixed with the bighorn. 
Sometimes one sees lambs of a very fine appearance, looking as 
though there was a streak of bighorn in them. 

The horns of the island species are not as fine as those of 
the coast ranges but nevertheless the heads are no mean prize. 
The smallness of the area over which these sheep are able to 
roam makes them shy, even for a bighorn, which is only 
another way of saying that they are almost unapproachable. 

Before we leave the bighorn, we would like to say a word 
about the rare "Black Sheep" or "Stone's Mountain Sheep." 

In the year 1896 Mr Andrew J Stone succeeded in obtain- 
ing a bighorn which proved to be an entirely new species. 
The authorities have appropriately named this sheep ''(wis 
stonei' in honor of the man who discovered it. 

So far there is really very little known about this beautiful 
creature, for only a few specimens have been shot, and 
apparently none taken alive. Its size is almost identical 
with the famous bighorn known as " ovis dalli" but when com- 
pared to other members of the wild sheep family it appears to 
be lighter in build, its legs giving one the impression of 



THE BIGHORN 



great speed, as well as sure-footedness. The horns are of 
lighter build than those of the true bighorn, but what they 
lack in bulk, they make up in length. They are very grace- 
fully curved and come down low on the head. 

Stone's Sheep is a noble creature in every sense of the word, 
holding its head high as though it realized its own majesty, 




and Mr. Stone is to be congratulated on his good luck. It is 
also reported that In the year 1 896 another great authority on 
sheep, Mr Pike, saw parts of a bighorn, (some heads and 
skins), which appeared strange to him, and the opinion seems 
to be general, that they may have belonged to specimens of 
the rare Stone's sheep. 



THE BIGHORN 



Mr Stone discovered this rare animal in the Cassiar Moun- 
tains in the North West corner of British Columbia. These 
mountains cross, at an angle, the 132 degree of longitude 
while their latitude is roughly 65 to 59 degrees. So far this 
sheep has occurred only in this comparatively narrow range. 
The head and horns seen by Mr Pike, were on the Yukon 
River in Alaska, and if they really belonged to a Stone's sheep 
it would appear that this animal ranges many miles to the 
north. In the next few years we shall probably know more 
of this interesting animal. 

Canada and the United States have been so thoroughly 
overhauled by hunters that it is startling to hear, at this late date, 
of the appearance of an entirely new animal. 

There is probably still good sheep hunting to be had in 
Northern Mexico and Lower California, where two very fine 
specimens are found, known as the Nelson's Sheep and the 
Mexican Sheep. These varieties are very much like their 
bighorn brother, both in build and appearance. 

Lower California is a risky country to hunt in for many 
reasons, one is that water is at a premium. Also in case of 
illness or accident the hunter might as well be at the North 
Pole as in Lower California for all the help he can get. 

It has been said that men who have no guns see more game 
than the real hunter, and there are few of us who have not 
had experiences that make this look like the truth. Mining 
engineers have often said that while searching for claims in 
the lonely mountains, they have run across many kinds of 
the rarest animals. A mining man, a friend of the writer's, said 
that while in Idaho, a wild sheep one evening nearly 
stumbled right through his camp. No doubt many other 
men could tell stories of a like nature. 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 

Without doubt one of the rarest animals in the United States 
is the Rocky Mountain Goat. As its name signifies, it is found 
in the highest and most inaccess ible places of that mighty range. 
In spite of its jet black, curved horns and tiny hoofs, contrasting 
with its snowy white body, it has sometimes been called the 
" chamois of the Rockies." Very little is known of its habits, 
for it is most difficult to approach, owing to its splendid sight 
and keen sense of smell. 

A sportsman, a friend of the writer's, who had been after 
this noble animal, on being asked about the hunting, nearly 
lost his temper. He was a man who had his own way about 
things, and when he set his heart on an object nothing was 
allowed to swerve him. But it seems that the Rocky moun- 
tain goats thought otherwise, and played hide and seek with him 
in wicked fashion. Having arrived in the goat country our 
friend proceeded to lay his plans with all due caution, for he 
was an old and experienced hunter. Taking with him a tireless 
Indian guide, who knew the mountains like a book, they set 
out for a protracted hunt. 

For five days they climbed and scrambled among unnamed 
peaks, but no sight of goats was to be found. At length, early 
one morning, the hunter's powerful glass showed a moderate 
sized specimen feeding on the sides of what seemed a sheer 
precipice. Twenty minutes watching showed them in what 
direction the goat was travelling. There was nothing for it 
but to make a long detour around the mountain. After a 
scramble, equal to thirty miles of travelling on a level road, 
they got to their position. Establishing themselves well 
concealed, they peered around for the game, but it was nowhere 
in sight. At first the two men thought they might have made 
a mistake in their calculations, but before long this doubt was 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 



disproved for the goat hove in sight a mile or more away. An 
hour showed the distance between them reduced to a httle 
over half a mile, and at the same time the wind shifted. Before 
the hunter and guide could change their base the fatal taint 
was carried to the goat, and in an instant it was off, leaping 
over places that a man could hardly obtain foothold on. The 
Indian looked ruefully at the hunter and neither said a word, 




for both knew the utter futility of a further chase, for the goat 
would keep a sharp lookout for them thereafter. 

On another day they sighted a much larger goat, and just 
as they nearly had it in position an eagle came sailing along, 
and spying the two men lying concealed, circled upwards in 
alarm, screaming with might and main, and instantly the goat 
took the warning and vanished. 

And so this tale of woe went on, one bad streak of luck 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 



after another. At the close of one arduous and fruitless day, 
however, while returning to camp, the guide who was some 
hundred yards or so in advance of his companion, suddenly 
surprised a goat on a ledge of rock. The beast was not fifty 
yards away and before it could move a shoulder shot brought 
it down, but the body fell off the ledge and down the precipice 
falling some eight hundred feet, and lodging firmly in a place 
completely out of human reach. The two men tried in every 
way to reach their prize, but each attempt was baffled and they 
had to give it up. So in the end the hunter returned without 
getting a goat, hence his display of bad temper when the 
subject is mentioned. 

The stories of hunters who follow this tricky goat bear the 
same earmarks, for they are of one accord in agreeing that the 
animal is shy above all other creatures. A man might spend 
days among the mountains where the goats were quietly feed- 
ing, and yet he would not catch sight of one, even though he 
were lucky enough to get close up. Although its coat is white, 
it harmonises remarkably with its surroundmgs, for this goat 
lives at high altitudes near the snowline. Once it takes to the 
snow in its flight, and viewed from any considerable distance, 
it becomes absolutely invisible. 

The Rocky Mountain Goat is not very large. Its body 

has more or less of a clumsy appearance, with a head too small 

in proportion, but as a matter of fact its hardihood and strength 

are superb ; still it cannot be compared to the great goats of 

Persia, Siberia, Tibet and India. 

It weathers, without difficulty, the awful storms that burst 
upon the mountains, living comfortably all the year round, 
where other animals would succumb to the elements. If 
captured young It grows very docile and tame. 




SHOT ! ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 




il^^'i 






,'*, ■f*'-^ <» «cjT:i3B"'r 



^^jT' *>-- 



- jiiHn'.!Jj^w 



A BULL MOOSE IN THE OPEN 



THE MOOSE 

The Moose is conceded to be the grandest of the huge game 
animals found in the United States ; this is a fact agreed on by 
all hunters and writers, although they differ with each other in 
many ways as to the great creature's habits, its shyness and the 
danger encountered in its pursuit. These differences largely 
arise from the various true accounts given by hunters of their 
experiences ; hardly any of them making fair allowance for the 
fact that the habits of the moose, owing to altered conditions, 
vary in different parts of the country. The moose in the 
Rockies for instance does not behave in exactly the same way 
as does its brother in the State of Maine. 

Now the moose is found in many localities, but its great 
strongholds are the North-Western States and Maine. Of 
course individuals are seen once in a while far to the South, 
but it will be found on examination that they are nearly always 
specimens that have strayed away from their regular haunts. 
The legs of the moose are long and its capacity for trotting 
almost unlimited hence it does not take a great amount of 
energy on its part to carry it far from home. 

The Moose is wary, all hunters agree on that fact, but the 
locality in which it is found tends to make it more or less 
cautious as the case may be. For instance in the West the 
moose will frequent more open spaces than it will in Maine 
and it naturally uses much greater caution. 

Another thing in relation to its waryness is that in some 
sections it is more hunted than in others. Naturally the more 
the moose is hunted the cannier it gets. In the West it is not 
an uncommon thing to find the moose and the great elk living 
side by side. The writer has never heard of a case of a battle 
between the two creatures. They seem to have agreed to let 
each other alone, although what would happen in case of a 



THE MOOSE 



fight stirs the Imagination. The moose has excellent senses of 
hearing and smell. In many Instances hunters have come 
across a fresh trail and have followed it, not only for hours but for 
two or three days without as much as getting a sight of the 
great creature. On one occasion a hunter, who happened to 
be unarmed, came upon a cow moose asleep on the edge of a 
forest. It would seem as if she scented danger even in her 

sleep for her ears kept twitching 
nervously, and it was not fly season 
either. At last the danger became 
apparent for the moose raised its head, 
and, wide awake in an instant, it 

caught the 

man smel 

Like a flash the 

moose 

was on 




its feet and off at a smart trot leaving the hunter behind with 
mixed feelings. It is seldom that you will find a moose's ears 
still. They are always turning from side to side, watchful 
sentinels to warn their owner of the least unnatural sound. Even 
the unusual breaking of a twig is sufficient to send a big bull 
moose off in a first class panic. 

It is almost hopeless to try and get down-wind to a moose 



THE MOOSE 



for it will scent its enemy a long distance away and steal off 
like a shadow. 

The moose, when alarmed nearly always goes off in a 
straight line. It is so huge and strong that hardly anything 
but a good stout tree would stop its career. Saplings, young 
trees, the toughest creepers and brambles offer it no resistance 
at all. 

The moose does not often gallop for the gait is not natural 
to it ; this is proved by the fact that it will soon tire out at a 
gallop, while at a trot it will go on for hours. Its length of 
leg is enormous and its stride is proportionate. It will travel 
with ease, and without any slacking up or change of step, 
across rocks and fallen trees. 

A moose was once seen to cross at full speed an open patch 
covered with felled tree trunks on top of which was about two 
feet of snow. The moose strode across these as easily as we 
would a moderately rough road. 

A curious trick of the moose's is that of turning its head to 
the trail it has come along when it pauses to rest. If a moose 
is alarmed and makes a long run it will rest if it thinks that it 
is not pursued, or in immediate danger, but to make doubly 
sure it lies down with its head turned in the direction that it 
has just come, so that its ears and nose may give it instant 
warning of danger. 

Many people who are not hunters frequently get the best 
chances of observing the moose at close quarters. Any fisher- 
man who has been years in the woods, silently working up a 
trout stream in the forest country, will be sure to tell you 
instances of sudden encounters with the moose. On one 
occasion a canoe party came upon a splendid bull moose 
quietly drinking his fill. It happened that the two occupants 



THE MOOSE 



of the canoe had not been talking for some minutes, and 
furthermore, just at that moment were taking a rest from pad- 
dhng. The canoe quietly sHd around a bend of the river and 
fifty yards away stood the moose. The canoe travelled at least 
another good fifteen yards ere the beast saw its enemy. Before 
it could attempt to fly a bullet hit it in the shoulder. It had 
turned to the woods but now changed its mind and charged the 
canoe instead. The river current was swift and it was a hard 
job backing the canoe away. There were but two men in the 
canoe, and as it took their four hands to work the paddles 
there was no chance for a second shot. Be- 
fore the canoe was really going full speed 
astern the moose was only a couple of yards 
away. Suddenly the shallow river bed be- 
came deep water, and the moose was 
swimminof. After a few strokes its head 
fell forward and it floated dead. By the 
way the best method to carry a huge moose 
carcass by water is to cut two stout long 
straight poles and lash them to the canoe, fore 
and aft ; then get two cross pieces, which should be longer and 
lighter, and lash them crosswise. In this manner a cat's cradle 
is formed, and the canoes, lashed squarely, are rigidly kept a 
few feet apart. The body is then placed on the cat's cradle 
and fastened in position. In this way the heaviest moose may 
be carried in perfect safety. Of course this is a risky propo- 
sition on a rapid river, but on lake water it is perfectly safe. 

On still another occasion an Indian guide and a novice hunter 
were on a lake when they came across a moose swimming full 
tilt for the farther shore. The Indian brought the canoe close 
up alongside the swimming animal, never dreaming for an 




THE MOOSE 

Instant that the hunter was not an experienced hand. The 
hunter fired, missed his shot altogether and the recoil of the 
heavy rifle caused him to suddenly shift his balance and so 

oflve the canoe a lurch. 
In the meanwhile, be- 
fore the Indian could 
recover and spin the 
canoe around, the moose 
turned on Its enemies 
and brought the flat 
side of its huge horns 
down on the frail craft, 
and naturally it went in 
half Rifles, kit and 
everything sank at once. 
As the hunter came 
to the surface the moose again brought down its horns, as 
though it were wielding a club, upon the unfortunate man's 
head and that was the end of him. The moose seemed to 
think that it had done enough damage by that time for It 
swam away in the direction that It had been going. A second 
canoe, a mile away, had seen the accident and was hastenmg 
to the rescue. The Indian was picked up and later the body 
of the hunter. The poor chap was in a fearful condition, his 
head and shoulder bones were smashed flat. The Indian m 
this case can hardly be said to blame, for the shot was an easy 
one, the water being smooth. Excitement or nervousness 
of the novice was really the cause of the disaster. There are 
stories told around the camp fires of Indians following a 
swimming moose. When they get alongside, they go overboard, 
and swimming up to the creature's neck, place a hand on the 




THE MOOSE 



base of its horns for support, and then cut the beast's throat 
with a hunting knife. As a rule the shooting of a swimming 
moose does not present any very great difficulties, and many 
hunters are of opinion that it is hardly sportsmanlike. The 
real hunting- of the moose is in the forest where the hunter 
matches his skill and woodcraft against the cunning and 
resources of the moose. 

There is no doubt great danger in hunting the moose, but 




there is no hard and fast rule, for circumstances make almost 
each case different. For instance, if the moose is surprised or 
shot at from a distance its first instinct would be to clear out 
as swiftly as possible. But if the moose is attacked at short 
range it is apt to show fight, especially if it has been wounded. 
Beyond the difficulty of stalking the moose, its hunting does 
not present as many dangers as would the hunting of other 
great creatures. The moose isn't as quick or ferocious as the 
lion or tiger, nor is its bulk as great, nor is its charge as 



THE MOOSE 




terrific as that of the elephant. Again it is vulnerable in 
many parts, and has not huge, impenetrable bones, nor bullet- 
defying skin like the rhinoceros. The temper of the moose is 
variable just as the temper varies in dogs of the same breed. 
Still taken all in all it is an ugly brute. If the moose is 
attacked on marshy ground the danger to the hunter is very 
great, and the same may be said of woods filled with very thick 
undergrowth. This undergrowth, while heavy enough to 
check a man, would go down like grass before a chargino- 
moose. There is a lot of hunting done in these days with the 
camera instead of the gun and within the last few years a nev^ 
lens has been invented which brings an object, say a mile 
away, within a couple of hundred yards. This invention in 
time is sure to give us fine pictures and much more information 
about the forest and mountain folk. It takes, if anything, more 
skill to "shoot" big game with a camera than it does with a 
rifle. The camera is bulkier than the gun, and one can readily 
see that to get a camera in position, focus it and obtain a 
photo is a job requiring no mean skill. As an instance a man 



THE MOOSE 



trailed a moose for half a day until he found the beast near an 
open spot in the forest. The moose was standing in the shadow 
making it impossible to get a picture. So the photographer 
quietly got his camera in position and focussed on a small 
sunlight patch a yard or so away on the chances that the 
quarry might move in that direction. A scrub oak tree hid 
the camera and across the face of the lens kept blowing an 
oak leaf To put out a white hand and remove the leaf would 
be quite sufficient to send the moose off in a panic. The 
photographer quietly cut a switch with which the troublesome 
leaf was held out of the way. 

For one hour the man lay concealed, keenly on the watch 
with the shutter bulb in his hand, and the state of his nerves 
can be imagined. At last the moose 
rose and as luck would have it 
moved out into the sunlight. The 
photographer made a slight sound 
and at once the moose faced around in 
alarm, head up, a perfect picture of a 
forest king. The shutter clicked and 
the next instant a cloud of leaves and 
turf showed where the game had 
stood. The plate was entirely 
successful. There is no need to go 
into the details of the hundred*^ of 
failures that are reported. Try and 
photograph your household cat in a 
natural position and see what a job 
you will have, and then consider 
what it means to take the picture of a 
wild beast with senses ten times as acute as the ordinary cat's. 




THE MOOSE 

The moose usually has only one mate and it is not uncom- 
mon to see a pair with two young ones. The female moose 
gives birth to one or two youngsters at a time, very seldom 
more. The parents are very affectionate and fight fiercely in 
protection of their young. 

The moose is a fine swimmer and will cross lakes of con- 
siderable size. It swims high, that is with shoulders well out 
of water. Its stroke is long and easy and it gets along quickly. 

From time to time there have been grand rows among the 
naturalists over the size of the moose and after hearing what 
has been said one is tempted to believe that all of them are 
right. The truth of the matter seems to be that the moose 
varies in size in different places. 

Now it must be borne in mind that the moose is found in 
Siberia, Northern Russia, Norway and Sweden and in America 
from Maine to Alaska, and in all these countries there is a 
difference between the creatures. So far the largest specimens 
have been killed in Alaska. Here it would be well to state that 
one must agree on what is meant by size. The heaviest moose 
do not always have the largest horns. The best way it seems 
would be to give some weights. A moose was killed. in Norway 
weighing 1250 pounds. Again moose killed in Maine have 
weighed from 900 to 1. 100 pounds. Of course the bull is heavier 
than the female. Two hunters in Alaska claim to have killed a 
moose weighing 1980 pounds. So far this seems to be about 
the largest specimen known. Another moose killed a few 
years ago in Southern Alaska weighed 1570 pounds. It 
must also be taken into consideration when determining the 
weight of the moose that the creature has its fat and lean 
seasons. In fact it may be said that while the moose average 
a certain weight in one district it is not possible to declare an 



THE MOOSE 

average weight for the specimens found all over the world. 

As to measurement in inches a huge bull moose shot in 
Alaska measured 1 1 feet from its nose to its tail, and stood 7 ft. 
2 inches at the " hump" or highest part of the shoulders. An 
average man would look very small alongside such a beast. 

As to the antlers, those of the moose would probably out- 
weigh any others carried by the deer family, but it is usual to 




class them by the measurement from tip to tip. Now 5 feet in 
expanse is a large moose horn, but specimens killed in Maine 
and Montana have measured 5 feet 8 inches. But authentic 
reports have come in of various kills in Alaska in which the 
horns varied from 5 feet 5 inches to 6 feet 2 inches and in one 
instance a huge pair of anders actually measured 6 feet 4 inches! 
The growth of horns seems to be largely controlled by the 
digestion. In the case of a young healthy bull moose its antlers 
grow larger and more majestic each year. On the other hand 



THE MOOSE 

a young moose, with fairly well grown horns, was captured and 
shipped to Scotland and placed in a game preserve. On the 
way over it was terribly sea sick and it was some weeks before 
it fully recovered its normal state. The next year its antlers 
were much smaller. As time went on it became used to its 
new home and its horns grew apace until they would have 
compared favorably with any wild specimen. Then there 
came the time in the life of this moose when its teeth beo^an to 
get blunt and food was harder to get. At once the effect was 
noticeable in the horns for they began to shrink. At the same 
time it would not be altogether safe to take as a standard a 
preserved park specimen for there life is not natural. In 
summer the moose roams free but in winter it is fed. It is 
tolerably certain however that an old moose in a wild state has 
not as large horns as a younger male. 

It might be well to state here that thousands of years ago 
when the mammoth, the forefather of the elephant, roamed the 
earth, there was found in Ireland a gigantic " Elk" which must 
have looked a good deal like our moose. Its spread of antlers 
was enormous, frequently twice as great as that of the moose 
found to-day ! In the marshy parts of Ireland these great 
skeletons are dug up from time to time. The writer has seen 
a pair of horns that were 9 feet from tip to tip. The moose of 
that period must have appeared a little top heavy, for judging 
from the skeleton, the body that went with the horns was not 
very much larger than that of our moose of to-day. 

The moose is purely a game animal. Its fur is worth hardly 
anything and its skin isn't much better, being inferior, it is said, 
to ordinary deerskin. Its flesh is coarse and wouldn't be fit to 
eat except in the woods and with a true hunting appetite. 

The moose, when it can, will stay near marshy or swampy 



THE MOOSE 




ground. It loves shady spots for It suffers considerably from 
the attacks of insects, and it is said at times to be driven nearly 
frantic by the swarms of deer flies and mosquitoes. This 
would Indicate that in spite of its great size, its skin is very 
sensitive to the touch. 

The moose, is a browsing and not a grazing animal ; Its true 
food consists of cotton-wood, willows, birch, mountain ash, 
swamp-maple, but it is also fond of lichens, ferns, grasses, 
mosses, and above all things lilv pods. It will wade out to its 



THE MOOSE 



shoulders to get at this coveted food. At times the moose 
will go down on its knees to feed on the young grass. 

Before we leave the moose we must say a word about its 
enemies. The most dangerous time for the moose is in the 
spring when the first thaws set in, for at once It becomes the 
prey of hungry wolves. The frozen crust is strong enough to 
carry a wolf, but the poor moose flounders through the treach- 
erous ice. In spite of its great strength a very few hours of 
this sort of work will leave it exhausted. At this time men go 
out on "skees" or snow-shoes and kill the moose, but it is little 
better than butchery for the beast is practically helpless. 
Hunters (so called,) have been known in one week to clear all 
the moose out of a district. Some of the Indians have even 
killed a moose with a knife, so helpless does it lie. Once in a 
while a bear tackles a moose but not always successfully. The 
antlers of the moose are terrific weapons but it also uses its 
forefeet both to pound and kick with. On one occasion a large 
bear that had been foolish enough to make a head attack on 
a moose was flung violently off. Immediately the moose 
pounded it fiercely with its hoofs. The bear had no second 
chance ; it was done for. The so called " elk " yard, where the 
moose spend the winter, is nothing more than a series of paths. 
A family of moose will locate themselves in the densest part of 
the forest and from there wander for about a mile in all 
directions. As the deep winter snow falls the passing of the 
beasts keeps the paths open until they are just the width of the 
animals and at times five or six feet deep. The moose scrapes 
away the snow in spots to get at the lichens beneath. Not 
infrequently we see pictures of an elk yard looking as though 
the moose had made snow-castles like boys. If enemies appear, 
the moose will forsake the yard, even in the dead of winter. 



THE CARIBOU 



There Is perhaps less danger in hunting the Caribou than any 
other member of the "big game family." In appearance the 
caribou Is majestic enough, but It hasn't the fury and reckless- 
ness of the moose. But at the same time the caribou Is an 




ugly customer to handle when wounded at close range. 

A couple of hunters v/ith two Indian guides were encamped 
In the caribou country in the Canadian Rocky mountains. 
They had been travelling for several days without seeing the 
game. That day they had moved their camp to a steep bare 
stony slope commanding a view for miles around. Just before 
sunrise the party were aroused by a cry of dismay from one ol 



THE CARIBOU 



the Indians. The man pointed excitedly to the opposite valley 

where a small group of pine trees was on fire. In a few 

minutes the clouds of sparks had started another blaze a few 

hundred yards on, and half an hour later the whole mountain 

side was blazing. The wind was in the opposite direction to 

the hunting camp so that there was no immediate danger. It 

might be well to state here as a word of advice — "never trust 

a forest fire." The flames spread with fearful rapidity, especially 

in the dry season and 

one can never tell at 

what moment the wind 

may take it into its head 

to shift On more than 

one occasion hunters 

have lost their entire 

outfit from such a cause, 

while they themselves 

just barely escaped with 

their lives. Distance 

seems to be no object to 

a forest fire. The writer 

once witnessed a blaze 

in California two miles 

wide and fifteen miles 

long. The fire was seen 

to jump a valley half a 

mile wide. It seemed 

as though the intense 

heat generated clouds of 

gases which burst into a 

flame-cloud and spread 




THE CARIBOU 

destruction in every direction. So good advice to the young 
hunter is that unless he has competent guides along, let him 
give a forest fire a wide berth. 

But to return to our story. This fire sent the game, wing 
and foot, in every direction. It was not long before a large 
bear, growling angrily, came within range and fell a victim to 
the rifles. Next a bull caribou, the first seen, came trotting up 
the mountain side and was killed also. But the most curious 
incident happened when a cow caribou, followed at some 
distance by a tiny young one, stumbled right through the camp. 
The mother got away but before the little one knew what it 
was doing it got tangled in the tent ropes and was promptly 
pounced upon by the Indians. The tent was badly wrecked 
with its kicks and struggles but at length the small prize was 
secured unharmed and tied up like a dog. This youngster 
was eventually brought to the haunts of civilization. 

The caribou's feet are wonderfully constructed. They are 
very broad and enable it to run with great speed across a bog 
or swamp that a man or a deer would sink knee-deep in. The 
caribou may be said to be always on the move. The herds 
will go far up into the mountains in summer, in fact above the 
timber line and stay there until the deep winter snows drive 
them to the lower levels again. The caribou, like the moose, 
seems to suffer a great deal from insect attacks and this is 
thought to be the reason of their migrations to the mountain 
tops. There are really two kinds of caribou. The Woodland 
variety is larger than that of the Barren Grounds, perhaps a 
third larger, also it is generally darker in color and has fewer 
white spots about it. The habits of the two species are about 
the same in all localities. 

The horns of the caribou are huge and majestic in appear- 




A CARIBOU HERD ON THE MARCH 



THE CARIBOU 



ance. They have not the grace of the elk, nor the solid 
appearance of the moose but they are very fine just the same. 
The horns vary a great deal In size and points ; for all sorts of 

styles may be met with in the same 
district. The big bulls generally are 
rid of their horns by the second week 
in December but it is said that the 
younger bulls and the cows carry them 
much later. In the Arctic regions both 
sexes carry the horns later than in the 
more southerly latitudes. We have in- 
serted in these pages at least four 
drawings showing different kinds of 
antlers. By comparing them the reader 
will see what a variety of shapes and 
sizes they will attain to. It might 
almost be said that the head-gear is 
never alike in any two caribou. 

The caribou has many traits that 

From a photograph provided by . r * 1 T *j. 1 

the Am. Mus of Natural History appear straugc lor au auimal oi Its class. 
In the first place it takes nearly first rank as a beast overloaded 
with curiosity. On seeing a man, or any strange object, its 
first impulse is to come up and play with it, especially if it is 
in the open country. As long as a man is willing to run up 
and down and bob his head and make quite a fool of himself, 
a caribou, or even a band of them, will keep up the game in- 
definitely and at a short range too, but the caribou just the 
same does not like to be approached directly by a man who 
is walking very slowly. It gets suspicious at once and away 
it goes, and so contrary is the nature of the beast that it may 
continue running for a whole day, at anyrate the hunter would 




BARKEN GROUND CARIBOU. 
Greatest Length 58 Inches 



THE CARIBOU 



be foolish to try and follow its trail. Where man has settled In 
numbers and the caribou have been slaughtered wholesale it 
rapidly becomes canny and is then very hard to approach at 
anything like close range. 

In fact many hunters draw the caribou within gun shot by 
tying a red handkerchief to a stick, 
or slowly swaying the body from side 
to side. As said before the caribou 
is literally a moving mass of curiosity. 

The caribou are affectionate and 
take good care of their young, 
but during the early babyhood of 
the little ones their lives are in 
constant danger from the wolves that 
infest the herds, always hanging on 
the outskirts ready at any moment 
to rush in and carry off the little 
fellows. The mortality from natural 
enemies like wolves is very great. 

At times the caribou gather to- 
gether In enormous bands and then 
their attitude of mind seems to 
change, for they move from one 
place to another without the least fear. 

There have been stories told of the caribou passing right 
over large camps leaving them as if they had been visited by a 
whirlwind. In the old days of the Hudson's Bay fur traders, 
before high class express rifles were invented the caribou 
in the far North roamed in much larger herds than they do now. 
It Is said that hunters have watched a living stream of caribou 
that has taken hours to pass. It is stated that once near a 




CARIBOU FROM NORTHERN 
LABRADOR, Greatest Length 60 
luclies; Greatest Breadth 34 Inches 

From a photograph provided by 
the Am. Mus. of Natural History 



THE CARIBOU 



Hudson's Bay Fort the caribou took three days to pass. One 
can imagine what a herd it must have been. To try and cross 
such a band would be certain death, for man and horse would 
be trampled under foot in no time. 

The caribou is considered the most valuable of all animals 
found in North America. Its skin makes the best winter 
clothing, while its meat is good eating. The Indian has known 
of the caribou's usefulness for ages, for he gets his new coats, 
tents, mittens, moccasins, fish-nets, snares, canoe lashings all 

from the skin of this animal. It is 
doubtful if the Indian hunters made 
any real inroads on the caribou herds, 
for they were too lazy to go after them 
to any great extent. The Indian of 
the North West won't hunt until he 
has to. He loves the luxuries of the 
white man but he is too lazy to trap 
the fur-bearing animals whose skins 
he could readily trade at the posts. 

It makes all the difference whether 
the hunter goes after the caribou on 
the Barren Grounds or in the mount- 
ains. Shooting caribou on the Barren 
Grounds is but little better than 
butchery, while trailing the game 
through the mountains is real sport, 
for the herds are much smaller and 
the beasts more cautious and difficult to approach. If the 
herds are much shot at they may suddenly leave a district 
altogether. It also frequendy occurs that the herds go away 
for no apparent reason a-t all. 




NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU. 

Very Heavy Specimens of Horns. 
Number of Points 37 

From a photograph provided by 
the Am. Mus. of Natural History 



THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE. 

The range of the Pronghorn or Antelope, whatever you may 
choose to call it, is a large one, but it has been sadly reduced 
in area since the early days of the century. 

The Antelope is now found in Old Mexico and then 
travelling north through New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, 
Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, the Dakotas, 
Montana, and for about five degrees of latitude Into North 
Western Canada. There was a time, however, when the 
Appalachian mountains formed this little fellow's Eastern 
frontier. 

Many of our large game animals have been hunted for 
their skins, but the antelope has been hunted for its flesh, 
as its skin is not of much value as the hair has a tendency 
to come out. It is essentially a dweller of the plains, and this 
country seems to produce no desert or sage brush waste too 
hard for the antelope to live in. It is pretty generally 
conceded that the animals of our country that live in the 
forest are safer than those that live on the plains or the 
mountain side, for the simple reason that the latter are much 
more open to attack. 

The habits of the antelope are curious; unlike its cousins 
it does not take much trouble to hide itself, but on the 
contrary, if it is alarmed it will make for the nearest mound 
or high place from which it can look all around. Its sources 
of safety are in its wonderful speed and Its keen eyesight. 
In fact, to the novice hunter who is not very well acquainted 
with the pronghorn's tricks, it seems all eyes. Now there 
is one trait or habit that the antelope has which must never 
be lost sight of while hunting it, and that is that it always 
takes to the open plain and never to the woods or broken 
country. It Is said that if a band of antelope are alarmed 



THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE 

they will risk a dash past the hunter to gain open country, 
while on the other hand, had they sense enough to know it 
they would be perfectly safe if they made for the nearest 
hillocks or scrub forest. 

The antelope fawns are pretty little things, and when they 
are still young they can be caught and become very tame. 
They are docile litde creatures and readily make friends with 
people frolicking or jumping about the ranch, and chumming 
even with the dogs and cats. 

For the first few days after birth the fawn is helpless, 
its sole protection is in its wonderful coloring which harm- 
onises so completely with the arid sun-bleached plains that 
you might almost step on one without seeing it. The fawn 
will not move but will allow you to take it up in your arms. 
Many hunters make the mistake of trying to rear such a little 
one but it is generally too young. It must be caught at a 
later stage if a household pet is wanted. In a few days, how- 
ever, the fawns are able to run and then they follow their 
mothers everywhere. 

The way of hunting antelope is through stalking, and you 
must match your skill against your quarry's eyesight. 

Like other members of the deer family the antelope has a 
goodly share of curiosity and in the early days, before ruthless 
persecution had taught it wisdom, many tricks were success- 
fully resorted to, to draw the antelope into range. Almost 
anything would do such as flashing a small pocket mirror or 
waving a colored cloth or handkerchief The Pronghorn 
rarely starts off at its best speed, and it frequently runs zig-zag 
as if undecided in which direction to go, but once it has 
made up its mind and settled down for its terrific gallop the 
hunter may as well give it up, for nothing short of an 



THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE 

automobile would catch it, for usually a cloud of dust alone 
marks the place where it stood. 

Sometimes the antelope are hunted on horseback with 
dogs, and the main chance comes through a habit that the 
bands have, at the start, of running in a large circle 
and thus giving the slower-footed dogs a chance to cut 
corners and make their attack. 




The Antelope have many enemies, and the worst one is the 
wolf This scourge of the plains will even attack a full 
grown buck but its greatest crimes are against the tiny fawns 
and does. The strength and fierceness of the wolf, coupled 
with the desperation born of hunger, make it an ugly animal 
for a creature made of sterner stuff than the pronghorn to 
deal with. Coyotes too sometimes band together and tackle 



THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE 



a doe but a single coyote would need to have lots of luck on 
its side before it could master a grown buck, in fact, we have 
never heard of a single killing. Sometimes the large birds 
of prey like the eagle are not above swooping on a helpless 
fawn. Last and not least must be mentioned the powerful 
mountain lion. This creature drags itself stealthily towards 
its quarry using every inch of uneven ground for shelter, and 
relying on its dun colored coat to keep it well concealed, until 
it gets within striking distance, and then, in true cat fashion it 
makes its deadly spring. If it gets a good hold the kicks 
and struggles of the antelope make no difference, for the 
mountain lion knows only too well that its prey cannot last 
long and must soon come to earth. 

One of the safeguards of the antelope lies in the fact that 
it is always on the move, going long distances for water or in 
search of its beloved green grass. Then if food becomes 
scarce or the snow too deep on its section it will migrate in 
large bands many degrees of latitude to the south where the 
climate is less rigorous. 

The pronghorn is not very shy by nature for there are 
many stories told on western ranches of small bands coming 
fairly close to the human habitations and staying quietly 
there as long as they were not molested. Although it is not 
altogether evident that the pronghorn is in need of extra 
protection, there seems to be no doubt from the alarming 
shrinkage in its ranges that strict laws will soon be neces- 
sary if we are not to lose the little creature altogether. The 
breed of hunters is multiplying much more rapidly than the 
breed of antelope, for it must be remembered that when 
wild creatures are being exterminated wholesale the well 
meaning but sleepy government usually gets to work too late. 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 

The Wapiti, if not the largest, is said to be the finest member 
of the deer family in the world. Its beauty and grace easily 
place it in the front rank. Its majestic head, with horns often 
five feet long, crowns a perfectly shaped body. The writer 
recently saw a set of antlers nearly six feet from tip to tip ; the 
head having been taken in Montana ! 

Many enthusiastic naturalists consider the wapiti to be the 
most representative of American mammalia and one well fitted 
to bear the country's standard in a congress of lordly animals. 

It is impossible to write at length on the wapiti without 
disclosing a page of American history almost as discreditable 
as that of the buffalo. A few years before the beginning of 
the nineteenth century this grand animal ranged freely over 
nearly two-thirds of the continent, but the settling up of the 
land, and the wave of peaceful conquest that set westward 
proved the nemesis of the American elk. The Alleghanies 
and the Adirondacks were favored haunts of noble herds, and 
a few wanderers were found in the wilder parts of Western 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But the era of ruthless, 
unthinking, greedy slaughter set in, and, step by step, the 
wapiti was driven back to the West. It ceased to exist in 
Ohio, Tennessee, the 
Carolinas many years 
ago, but a few managed 
to escape the general 
persecution by going 
across Texas and down 
into Mexico. Caliiornia 
Oregon, Washington 
and some parts of 
Canada still remained 




THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



strongholds. The last specimen killed in the East was about 
the year 1870. Today a few wapiti are found on the Island 
of Vancouver and desultory bands wander through Manitoba 
and the British North-West territory. By 1880 the wapiti was 
practically confined to the Rockies, and while it is still found 
in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, it is extinct in Colorado, 

The real salvation of our wapiti lies in the protection 
afforded to the few thousands that have sougrht the shelter of 
the Yellowstone national park. Without doubt this beautiful 
tract of land, less than a hundred miles square, is the finest 
game preserve in the world. Here the elk and other animals 
are strictly watched, under United States army supervision, and 
they seem to be breeding and slowly replacing a tiny percen- 
tage of the damage done to their species. 

Other states, realizing that the big game were a valuable 
asset, have followed the lead of the Government. For the 
first few years the life of the game warden was anything but 
safe, and unscrupulous hunters, who looked with angry eyes on 
too much official zeal, did not hesitate to mistake the warden 
for game, or, to put it more plainly, murder him in cold blood. 
Then came a real factor into play, an aroused public opinion ; 
so to-day the game laws in our states are fairly well obeyed 
and the people sympathize with the efforts made to punish 
offenders. It is the old story however, plenty of zeal when 
the damage is done almost beyond repairing. 

Two travellers who had seen much hunting in a section of the 
West almost untrodden by the foot of man, decided to make 
one more trip in quest of big game. They carried their main 
outfit and tents in a wagon, and having gone as far as it was 
practicable they formed a camp. 

The next day the two hunters pressed on into the wilderness. 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



In the cool early hours, while carefully looking about them for 
traces of the game, they came across a small herd of elk cows, 
some feeding, others lying down. Before long they beheld 
the " Lord of the Herd," a little to one side, with its head raised 
and listening intently. At first the hunters thought that they 
had been winded but a hasty examination showed them tliat 
this was not so. As a matter of fact the wapiti's attention was 
at a right angle from where the men were concealed. The 

bull was at 
too long a 
range to 
make a sure 
shot, and 
just as the 
hunter s 
were con- 
sidering an 
advance, 
the wapiti 
gave vent 
to a roar. 
The hunter 

at once whispered to his companion thai it was a challenge, 
and before long across the valley they heard a faint roar in 
answer. The wapiti roared again and the challenge was taken 
up but this time much closer. The cows rose at once to 
their feet and stood facing the same way as the bull. The 
hunters decided to lie close and see what would happen. As 
the other wapiti drew nearer the first bull gave vent to roar 
after roar. Suddenly a light tread was heard and the rival 
stepped out of the shadow of the woods into the open sunlight. 




THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



What a picture those two splendid creatures made. In 
size and horn measure there was but little to choose between 
them, the new comer, if anything, was a little light in weight. 

The two wapiti advanced within fifty paces and then 
stood motionless, eyeing each other with disdain, while the 
group of cows fidgeted about uneasily. The hunters watched 
with rapt attention ; the cows grew still, the birds in the trees 
ceased sinofinQf and a silence of awe fell until it seemed that 
every living thing was awaiting breathlessly the shock of battle. 
Without a moment's warning it came; the two creatures 
charged and their lowered antlers met with a terrific crash 
and then with interlocked horns they struggled and wrestled, 
each one trying to bear the other to the earth. After tossing 
their heads with fearful violence their horns became untangled 
and they drew away, their flecked and bloody nostrils and 
heaving sides betokening the severity of the struggle. 

The lull in the battle was only momentary for both antag- 
onists charged again, with even greater fury and the fight 
raged over a much larger area. Once the larger wapiti was 
borne to its knees, but it was up again with a titanic effort 
that drove its enemy back half a dozen yards. Then the tide 
of battle turned, but so suddenly that neither of the hunters 
saw just how it was done. The wapiti that they had first seen 
fell on its side, and at the height of its struggle to regain its feet, 
the hunters heard a crack like a rifle and the poor beast's huge 
ander broke off In an instant the rival saw its advantage and 
with one downward blow of its head left its rival helpless. 

The hunters had forgotten all caution during the progress 
of the batde and had risen to their knees to get a better view, 
when suddenly they were sighted by the cows who instantly 
fled, followed by the victorious bull. 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



The two hunters walked over to the dying wapiti and gazed 
in awe at it. It was clear that a frightful horn wound m its 
chest was what had felled it. As it lay panting for breath, 
there was still blood in its eye and doubtless if its shoulder 
muscles had not been so badly torn as to render them useless, 
it would have risen to its feet and continued the batde with 
one antler. In pity the hunters shot it dead and then they 
looked over the battle ground. The trees were barked, saplings 
torn up, huge clods of earth displaced wherever the fighting 
pair had struggled. The broken antler proved to be perfectly 
sound and it had evidently been shattered by the sheer impact. 

The body was carried to camp and while the day had been 
"gameless" in one sense of the word both hunters felt that 
in this battle of giants they had witnessed a sight that does 
not often fall to the lot of man. 

The weight of the dead wapiti was close to half a ton, while 
the points of its horns numbered twelve. As it lay dead its 
measurement to the shoulders was over five feet. 

The wapiti are said to be the most quarrelsome of the deer 
family for every spring great batdes take place between the 
bulls. On rare occasions there will be a three-cornered fight 
which is sure to end fatally. 

As a general rule, however, the struggles do not end in the 
death of either fighter. The battle we have described is 
altogether an exception. The enormous horns of the wapiti 
are terrible weapons to be sure, but at the same time they act 
as guards. When two wapiti meet, head on, their horns inter- 
lock and then there is a grand pushing match. A fatal blow 
will never be struck by a direct charge. On more than one 
occasion, during a pause in a battle, a wapiti will lay itself 
open to a fatal stab from its enemy by having its attention 




THE KING ISSUES HIS CHALLENGE 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 

distracted by a watching cow, and it is seldom that a chance 
hke this is allowed to slip by its alert opponent. 

The horns of the wapiti have been a subject of much heated 
argument among the authorities, both as to shedding, size and 
quality. Twelve points is about the average number found in 
a full sized bull, and the growth is usually fairly regular. As 
many as eighteen points have been seen on a head but it is a 
rare occurrence. The wapiti cast their horns in the spring and 
four months later the new antlers have fully grown to their 
huge proportions. 

Some naturalists claim that a distinction should be made 
between the Rocky mountain specimen and the one found on 
the Pacific coast. The matter is still in debate but it seems 
certain that the coast wapiti is a little smaller than the great 
mountain variety. The late Sir Samuel Baker, who was a 
great authority on hunting, held the opinion that the American 
elk were really red deer, although the former surpassed at 
every point their European cousins. The color is similar, 
although the rump of the wapiti is lighter, but there is a 
marked difference in the horns, that might not be observed. 
The wapiti horns sometimes have points turning back, caribou 
fashion, and a few have been killed showing a tendency to 
grow fluted and fan-like. These eccentricities are unknown 
in the European red deer. 

The hunter needs to have his wits about him while in 
pursuit of the wapiti, for the animal is no mean antagonist 
when aroused. As a rule, on scenting the dreaded man-enemy 
the biggest bull wapiti will take to its heels like a rabbit, but 
there are always exceptional cases when it will not, and those 
are the ones the novice must watch for. 

A hunter mentions having successfully stalked a small herd of 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



wapiti, the two finest members of which proved to be a good 
sized bull and a much younger one. The youngster was shot 
dead through the heart, while after a second shot, the old bull 
rushed away, followed by its cows. Now a novice would have 
declared that he had 
missed the larger 
beast entirely, but 
the hunter knew 
better, for a quarter 
of a mile away he 
found his prize lying 
dead. It is a curious 
fact that on being 
hit the wapiti will 
often run away with 
its regular swinging 
stride as if nothing 
had happened. 
Sometimes this 

occurs when the 
creature has been 
fearfully wounded. 
The wise hunter 
will always follow 
up the trail on the chance that his shot may have been fatal. 
On another occasion this same hunter shot a wapiti, and 
whether it was confused by the sound of the rifie, not knowing 
exactly from what direction it came, he was not sure, but at any 
rate it charged straight at him as he lay concealed. Scrambling 
to his feet, not an instant too soon, he stepped to one side. 
The spreading antlers of the wapiti ran against a sapling, which 




TMR WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



in turn swung down like a club across the hunter's shoulders, 
knocking him senseless. It looks as if this charge of the 
wapiti were not deliberate for the beast did not return to the 
attack. 

On still another occasion a hunter in British Columbia shot 
a wapiti and was promptly attacked by the infuriated animal. 
He hastily slid behind a tree for protection as the wapiti rushed 
past, but on the return the hunter tripped and instantly the 
wapiti caught him on its horns and dashed the body literally 
to pieces. 

On the Pacific coast we once heard a story which we 
doubt, but give it for what it is worth. A hunter, in much 
the same plight as the last one, wounded his wapiti but not 
badly enough to stop it. For some reason or other, which 
was not explained, he lost his balance and at the same time 
loosened his grip on his rifle. He saw the wapiti charging 
with lowered head, its horns clearing the ground like a cow 
catcher. Seizing an antler near its base the hunter held on 
and with his free hand he plunged his hunting knife into the 
brute's throat. This is the story, and we beg leave to doubt it, 
because we do not believe that there is any man alive strong 
enough to hold on to the swinging head of an infuriated 
wapiti bull and at the same time make a knife play with his 
disengaged hand. One thing is clear however from the fore- 
going incidents and that is that the wapiti, under certain 
conditions, is a very dangerous animal to encounter. 

With regard to the origin of the wapiti the scientific men 
are not fully agreed. In Mongolia, in the Altai Mountains 
for instance, there is found a magnificent specimen of the 
wapiti and this is considered to be the head and founder of 
the family. The American wapiti is supposed to have sprung 



THE WAPITI OR AMERICAN ELK 



from this source. How the wapiti reached the Americas can 
easily be shown by the geologists. They must have emigrated 
at a period before geological cataclysms, or other violent up- 
heavals, changed the shape of the land. 

It is not unlikely that long ago, what is now the Aleutian 
Islands formed a solid connecting link between Alaska and 
Siberia, and that many animals besides the wapiti chose this 
as their route from Northern Asia. From Mongolia other 
branches of the wapiti family have wandered far afield, and 
are best represented by the Indian Sambur deer, and the 
magnificent stag found north of the Vale of Kashmir; both of 
these creatures are very lordly animals. 

The whole question of the distribution of animals is very 
interesting. We know that the main shape of the continents 
of the world has not changed a great deal in ages, so it is 
clear that the majority of our animals must have been in 
their present condition, and stricdy isolated from one another 
for many thousands of years at least. 

The fact that there is a difference in size and build between 
the wapiti, red deer, and sambur would easily be accounted 
for by the changes of climate, food and surroundings. Where 
the food is rich, and plenty of it to be found, the deer would 
grow very large, whereas if a branch of the family found them- 
selves, with their retreat cut off, in a land where the living 
was hard, they would grow wiry but smaller. We can see 
that if our grizzlv bear were suddenly moved to a tropical land 
it would suffer from the heat, but in course of time its fur 
would change, perhaps become thinner, and the beast would 
soon get used to its new life. It must be remembered that 
what means rich food to one animal might mean starvation to 
another. Nature provides for all according to their wants. 



THE MULEDEER 

The Muledeer might be called the "deer of the forests" as 
distinguished from theVirginia deer which dwells by preference 
in the marshy and flat lands or in the tangled thickets. 

The muledeer is much rarer than its cousin, having suffered 
considerably at the hands of man. Its habitat is roughly in the 
Rockies and to the west of that lordly range. The muledeer 
is practically extinct in the states west of the divide and in 
British Columbia. 

In general appearance there is a striking difference between 
the muledeer and the Virginia deer. The former is larger, its 
ears are longer and its antlers much finer. Then their tails 
are different — in fact the two species are often called the Black- 
tail and Whitetail deers, although the true muledeer hasn't a 
black tail at all. The muledeer travels to considerable heights 
and may often be seen feeding near the edge of the timber 
line. The hunter will find that he has a difficult task to close 
in on his game, for this beautiful animal is exceedingly wary, 
and will take alarm at the least sight or sound that it does not 
understand. Once the game has been started it becomes even 
more alert, and then nothing but dumb luck will make the 
hunt successful. Sometimes muledeer are seen roaming among 
the flocks of sheep, but even then they are hard to approach. 
When alarmed they go off in a series of buck-jumps which look 
rather clumsy, but the speed attained in this way is terrific. 
This is the regular gait of the deer and it is most extraordinary 
to behold. The true home of the muledeer is in the rugged 
mountain valleys where there is just enough timber to afford 
secure and good shelter. 

The muledeer is frequently seen in private collections, for it 
takes very kindly to park life, but not as well as the Virginia 
deer. The latter is the easiest to raise of all the deer family. 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 

Thp: most widely distributed member of the American big 
game family is the Virginia or Whitetail Deer. This splendid 
animal is known by many names in different parts of the land 
and in truth there are some slight variations in the species. Its 
range is very wide, in fact it may be said to cover pretty nearly 
every state in the Union. Generally speaking when Americans 
talk of " Deer" they mean the Virginia deer. It is essentially 
a dweller of the forests and swamp lands and is very seldom 
seen in the mountains unless they are wooded to the tops. 

The hunting of this animal is carried on in a variety of ways. 
So far, in spite of guns, it has stood out better against the 
advance of man than any other game creature, and this is not 
so much due to any special shrewdness or sagacity on its part, 
as to the nature of the country it inhabits. The real sporting 
way of getting the deer is to still-hunt it, and in doing this the 
hunter will find that he has a task on his hands. 

Here in the Eastern States deer have been seen in recent 
years not far from the City of New York, while a fine buck 
was observed crossing the New Haven railroad just over the 
Connecticut state line. The writer while staying at a large 
summer hotel in the White Mountains once saw a deer cross 
the lawn, stare at the golf players, and then trot off through 
the village. It being "closed season" the pretty creature was 
not molested. 

Deer hunting in California is difficult. The air in the 
mountains is very still and the snapping of a twig can be heard 
a long way off. The deer are found mostly in the chaparral 
and greasewood. They are nearly the color of the soil and are 
consequently very hard to see, to say nothing of approaching. 

Once in a while a large section of the mountains will be 
devastated by a forest fire and then the deer will come down 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 



?V--^- ~^^^-^j^^^^~~^^--~ ~:,^^-,-~^.,^p^~^ 







W^S^--iF^& 



into the cultivated lands even near houses, regardless of the 
presence of man. On one occasion a California ranchman 
reported having seen during the progress of a huge fire, a 
couple of horses, a mule, a cougar, a bear and some deer all in 
one group — their natural antipathies for the time forgotten. 
They were united in their blind terror and haste to escape 
from the leaping destruction behind them. 

It is probable, that for several reasons the Virginia deer 
will outlast all our other game animals. In the first place it 
breeds fairly easily and takes advantage of the strict legal 
protection that it gets. Secondly it inhabits land that it is hard 
to dislodge it from. In the spring and summer the deer come 
down to the lake or river banks to feed on the new grasses 
and water-lilies. If you are moving slowly through the woods you 
will be sure to come across a fine buck, standing knee-deep in 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 

the water, feeding to its heart's content. Then as the fall 
advances and the water-food withers the deer go back into 
the woods and hunt for the roots, berries and leaves. It is 
said that these migrations are not undertaken in bands, neither 
do they occur at any stated times, for as long as the food lasts 
the deer will not move, and seasons are not always of even length. 




On some of the sea-islands around our coasts, especially in 
the South, the deer have a stronghold that it will take many 
years to dislodge them from. The usual method of hunting is 
something: like this. " Stands" are established about a few 
hundred yards apart or even nearer. These stands are nothing 
but hillocks from which a view can be obtained of the flat 
grounds near at hand. Then a beater is sent away Vv'ith a 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 




best direction, 
trick for the 
to the open hard 
and the man 
ion near the surf 
best shooting. 



Virginia 



nondescript pack of hounds to round up the deer. The dogs 
know their business well enough and they soon have the game 
moving. It does not appear that the deer insist upon going 
either up or down wind, but simply make off in what seems 
to them to be the 
It is a common 
big bucks to take 
sandy beaches 
who gets the stat- 
frequently has the 

The speed of 
deer is very great 
most extraordin- 
a great hurry it 
a series of magni- 
may make a con- 
in running or not. 
buck appears 

the hunter the 
ing. It is a com- 
see the deer make 
leaps and then a big one, then repeat it, and all the time the four 
feet are held together. 

On one occasion a small boy told the writer that on his first 
hunt a fine buck was started and headed for him. The boy 
was stationed between two rocks. The buck came on like a 
whirlwind evidently not seeing the enemy in front. The boy 
let it have both barrels which missed clean and the next instant 
the creature, with one superb spring cleared his head, rocks 
and all. It was found afterwards that the distance between the 
hoof-prints from the take-off to the landing was 22 feet! 



the 

and its gait 
ary. When in 
comes along in 
ficent leaps. It 
siderable noise 
Ouite often the 
without giving 
slightest warn- 



A "NINE POINT Hl'AD KILLED 
BY A TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY. 



mon 
three 



thing 



to 
short 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 



The Virginia deer has fine horns and on occasions knows 
how to use them. Great caution is necessary in approaching 
a wounded deer. Sometimes the creature will lie perfectly 
still, to all appearances dead, and then suddenly spring to life 
and, as like as not, attack its nearest enemy. An experienced 
hunter once shot a deer which ran some hundred yards or so 

and then fell. With great glee 
he advanced and bestrode his 
prize, admiring its size and 
beauty of horn. Suddenly 
the buck sprang up and the 
man literally rode it for fifty 
yards until he was flung head- 
long, escaping with a torn 
wrist and broken ribs. The 
buck was really wounded and 
was found lying dead a mile 
or so further on. 

The hunter can use either a 
rifle or a double-barrel with 
buck shots. The deer though 
have enormous stamina and it 
is little short of a miracle to 
see how, once in a while, a 
speeding buck will carry away 
a full charge, and apparently 
A badly wounded deer will sometimes 
travel miles before it gives up. The heart and lungs are the 
most deadly points to shoot at to make a clean kill. 

On another occasion while hunting on a misty rainy morning 
the small boy mentioned had another experience with a doe. 




not show the effects. 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 



The creature had been started by the dogs and had recovered 
from its first fright and was coming along with slackened speed. 
The doe was not looking straight ahead as she ran and conse- 
quently neither she nor the boy saw each other until they met. 
The doe ran right into the youngster, her head striking his 
chest and knocking him a complete somersault! He kept 
his wits about him however, scrambled to his knees and 
making a splendid shot he brought the doe down at over two 
hundred yards. Any hunter who regularly follows the hunting 
of the Virginia deer is sure to have a great many adventures 
nearly as exciting as this one. This sprightly creature has any 
amount of pluck and when angry is a most dangerous and 
agile enemy to face. It is a common mistake of non-hunters to 
consider all deer cowards but this is anything but correct as 
the naturalists can testify. 

We have seen an old buck that had been driven to the beach 
enter the surf and from there do deadly damage among the 
pack of hounds. It is shrewd enough to stand just out of the 
dogs' depth and a large percentage of those that swim to the 
attack are sure to be killed. In most cases the deer would win 
the fight if the hunter with his rifle did not come down and 
take a hand in the game. 

The Virginia deer are very quarrelsome and great battles 
take place among the bucks. The fighters eye each other with 
disdain and then come together with a crash. Neither will 
budge an inch and a grand VvTestling match takes place. 
Sometimes the struggle will continue for several hours until 
one gives up or gets a broken antler. When a buck loses the 
fight it watches its chance and then springs away with lightning 
speed. If it is ever overtaken by the victor it will probably be 
killed. On one occasion a party of hunters came upon the 



THE VIRGINIA DEER 

skeletons of two fine bucks with horns locked tight. The pair 
must have become so entangled that neither could get away 
and thus they both died miserably of starvation. This we 
are told is not a very rare occurrence. 

The scientific men are of opinion that the little deer of 
Florida and the variety found in New Mexico and the adjacent 
territories, while closely allied to the Virginia deer, are really 
distinct species. It is probable however that they all sprang 
from the same ancestors. 

The fawns of the Virginia deer are the most beautiful litde 
creatures in the world. They are spotted when young, look- 
ing like miniature axis deer, but these markings vanish before 
they have grown very old. 






THE TIGER AT BAY. 



ASIATIC HUNTING 




The Tiger 

The Orang-Utan or Mias 

The Crocodile 

The Leopard 

The Rhinoceros 

The Elephant of Asia 

The Bantenge 

The Yak of Tibet 

Asiatic Bears 

Axis Deer 

The Black Buck of India 

The Siberian Wild Sheep 

Ibex Hunting in the Himalayas 

The Markhor 



THE TIGER 

When we speak of the Tiger we always think of India at the 
same time, but the tiger is by no means confined to India 
alone ; for it is found in Persia, Afghanistan, China, Burmah 
and in the Malay Peninsula. The Englishmen have hunted 
the Indian tiger and also written a good deal on the subject, 
hence we have heard more of their beast while other countries 
have not had their specimens so exploited. 

The tiger is a truly magnificent creature. It combines so 
many qualities that the possession of even a couple of them 
would be quite enough for any other animal. For instance very 
few creatures are as strong, surefooted, silent, swift, agile or sly 
as this great cat. It is a match for nearly every creature that 
comes in its way. Only the terrible Indian buffalo, the 
sturdy rhinoceros or the elephant have any chance against a 
tiger's onslaught. 

The hunting of the tiger is both dangerous and not 
dangerous. We do not wish to convey the idea that there is 
ever a time when the tiger is not a formidable animal to meet, 
for this would be wrong. A few Englishmen and many of the 
rich native chiefs hunt the tiger in style ; that is with a large 
number of elephants in the party and a small army of beaters, 
servants, bearers and general hangers-on. The risk in this 
sort of hunting is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand 
there are men who hunt the tiger alone on foot. These are 
the real hunters, for they risk their lives every minute. 

To return to the first scheme of hunting, it is employed 
mostly on state occasions. When a man like the Prince of 
Wales vists India he is sure to be invited to a tiger hunt. But 
he doesn't see the real sport for it is like going after an American 
grizzly with a small army and a brass band. The tiger, at these 
big hunts, has no show, for the odds against it are too heavy. 



THE TIGER 



The guests are duly invited and for several days beforehand 
silent and swift-footed natives have been scouring the surround- 
ing country until they have located a fine tiger. They keep 
in touch with the creature, following its trail, watching its 
drinking places but never disturbing it. Other runners are 




continually passing back and forth to the hunt headquarters and 
reporting where the game lies. On the day of the hunt the 
host and his guests mount the elephants and set off early to the 
jungle. In the meanwhile hundreds of native beaters have 
surrounded the part of the jungle where the brute is known 
to be hiding and then they proceed to narrow the circle, yelling, 
beating drums, and blowing horns, thus keeping the tiger on 



THE TIGER 




the move. Where the elephants stand there is no noise and 
the tiger naturally heads in that direction thinking that there 
lies his only avenue of escape. Suddenly the royal beast 
breaks cover and endeavors to pass the line of elephants. It 
is shot down, and the hunt is all over unless there be a second 
tiger at hand. If the royal guest makes a bad shot and the 
tiger shows a disposition to attack his elephant there are twenty 
guns close at hand that will riddle the poor beast before it can 
spring. The tiger has no chance at all. 

In spite of all these elaborate precautions however, the tiger, 
if it has been hunted in this fashion before, and has managed 
to save its skin, will put its wits to work and escape its enemies 



THE TIGER 



once more. Not infrequently the tiger lies close and sneaks 
through the line of beaters, or lies perfectly still and lets the 
men pass over its hiding place. It is said that a native in this 
fashion will sometimes walk safely within a few feet of a tiger. 
More often the tiger suddenly charges the line of beaters who 
not being armed are only too anxious to scatter and let it 
through, and then accuse one another of cowardice. ^ 

It is a difficult job to get an elephant suitable for tiger hunt- 
ing, for the former, in spite of its bulk, is a timid_ animal, and 
much given to rushing off in a panic. It is said that if an 
elephant has once been badly clawed by a tiger it is useless 
ever after for hunting purposes. Some men protect their 
elephants by fastening over their trunks a flexible armor made 
of the scales of the crocodile. When the tiger springs on the 
elephant's head it slips off" at once because its claws can get no 
hold on the smooth, tough, shiny surface. ^, , , i 

Now let us look at the men who hunt on foot. The late head 
of the London police, an ex-army officer named Bradford had 
only one arm, the other a tiger got away with. It is said that 
while he was hunting he wounded a tiger that attacked him and 
knocked him down. The brute tried to bite him and to save 
his head, he rammed his arm up to the elbow down its throat. 
He thus saved his head and life at the expense of his arm. 
Friends nearby killed the tiger. . . ^ ,11 

A friend of the writer's said that his district in Burmah had 
been greatly worried by a tiger and he went forth to kiU it. 
He took up a station near a drinking pool. He had been 
lyin- in wait for some time when he heard something rustle 
behi'nd him. On turning his head he saw the tiger not five 
yards away. Before he could fire the creature bounded out ot 
sight That night the tiger slew and partially ate a tame 



THE TIGER 



buffalo of one of the villagers. The next morning the hunter 
took up the chase again. He found his game lying peacefully 
asleep among some large rocks. It was fairly gorged with meat 
and was sleeping the effects off. He whistled and immediately 
the tiger raised its head and stared at him only half-awake. 
Instantly he planted a shot into its brain and the brute rolled 
over kicking up its heels. Sometimes a tiger gets more than 
it bargained for and here is an instance. A tiger came upon 
a baby elephant that had strayed from its watchful parent. 
The she-elephant hearing its youngster's squeals for help 
promptly charged the enemy. The baby proved to be more 
troublesome to hold than the tiger thought and the fearful din 
it made drowned the noise of the approaching mother. She 
seized the tiger with her trunk and wrenched it away by sheer 
strength and then brought it down to earth with a violent blow. 
The tiger appeared stunned and before it could recover the 
elephant deliberately knelt upon it and crushed out its life. 
When she was quite sure that the tiger was dead she slowly 
rose to her feet and went off to soothe her clawed young one. 
On still another occasion a hunter tells of having witnessed 
a fight between a tiger and an antagonist of not nearly so lordly 
a size as an elephant. While the hunter was looking for duck 
near a swamp he started a wild boar, or "pig" as it is called 
in India. The boar not liking to be disturbed, moved off 
grunting angrily and as it passed a thicket a tiger sprang upon 
it. Now the great cat had made an error of judgment and 
had not gripped its victim firmly. All hunters know that if a 
wild boar is given a half chance it is a match for anything its 
size and many beasts much larger. The tiger discovered this 
fact for the boar shook itself loose and then instead of rushing 
away it fiercely charged its enemy. A rough and tumble biting 



•> 

O 
X 

a 

I— I 
> 



en 










IHE TIGER 



and clawing match then took place and It was hard to see 
which was getting the best of it. Suddenly the boar shook its 
head loose and gave an upward rip with its dreadful tusks and 
the tiger dropped dead immediately. It is fair to say that the 
tiger was not a particularly fine specimen. 

The Indian tigers may be properly divided under three 
heads. The young, perfectly grown fellows, — the true kings of 
the jungle ; secondly, the cattle-killing nuisances ; and thirdly, 
the man-eaters. The latter are nearly always poor specimens, 
brutes well along in years whose teeth are blunt, and spring 
not swift enough to pull down a deer. As a last resort, often 
through the dread of starvation they take to killing the easiest 
thing in the world — man. It is said that the eating of human 
flesh ruins a tiger's fur, making it mangy, but this is by no 
means an established fact. Luckily for India only a small 
proportion of the tigers can be classed as man-eaters. The 
finest tigers in the world, those with the brightest colors and 
longest fur do not come from India at all but from Manchuria 
in China, where the Russians and Japanese have recently been 
fighting. Now Manchuria is very cold in winter and these 
tigers are frequently seen after the deep snow is on the ground. 

Sometimes these tigers attack the flocks of sheep on the 
plains and unless the shepherds are well armed they are sure 
to be killed or driven away. 

When the tiger of Northern China becomes desperate from 
lack of food it has been known to attack a small party of 
travellers and often successfully. The attacks are usually very 
sudden, violent, and from a well chosen ambush such as an 
overhanging rock. The tiger always kills by breaking the 
neck of its victim. It rarely uses its teeth at the first spring. 

There is a considerable difference in the body, form and build 



THE TIGER 



of tigers. There is one creature known as the Aral-tiger that 
has a snub nose and a short stocky head. This species has not 
the graceful bearing of the Indian variety. 

It is the general opinion of experts that the tiger will long 




outlast the lion, for the reason that it is shrewder, and does not 
take the risks of the latter. A tiger usually lies concealed 
until nightfall and then goes about its hunting in silence ; 
the lion on the other hand Is often seen out in daytime, and 
goes about at night roaring loudly and giving hunters a clew 
to its whereabouts. 



THE ORANG-UTAN 

The Mias or Orang-Utan does not come strictly under the 
head of big game hunting for few men care to take the risk of 
kilHng this giant ape. The Orang-Utan has always been a 
mark for the catcher of wild animals to aim for, as a specimen 
is worth a lot of money to Zoological Societies. As a rule a 
large number of men make war on a family of orangs and, 
having killed the old ones, seize the youngsters before they can 
escape. It is next to impossible to capture a full grown 
specimen, for it fights so hard that it is sure to be fatally in- 
jured in the struggle. 

The strength of the orang is extraordinary. It has been 
known to seize a rifle out of a man's hand and twist it into a 
knot as if it were made of bamboo. Another thing that makes 
the orang-utan difficult to catch is that it seldom comes to 
the ground. It is a rather clumsy performer when walking, but 
in the trees it climbs, or swings itself from tree to tree with 
great speed, and often escapes its enemies in this way. 

The orang, while not quarrelsome, is held in great awe by 
the natives, for they seldom dare to molest it. Once the orang 
has been roused to fury it is not only dangerous but displays 
great cunning. Its tenacity of life is as great as that of our 
grizzly. Many stories are told of several members of a party 
of hunters being killed by an enraged orang before it has 
succumbed to the attack. It is a very risky thing to try to 
capture a young one without killing the parents, for they are 
likely to follow the trail of the lost one, with disastrous result 
to the thieves. 

The orang-utan does not live very well In captivity, being 
extremely subject to pneumonia and consumption. When 
caged however it is very docile and soon shows considerable 
affection towards its keepers. 



THE CROCODILE 

The Crocodile in the East comes in for a good share of 
attention. It is a sly and tricky reptile to shoot and a fearful 
beast to be attacked by. In the water the crocodile has no 
equal, but on land its movements are clumsy ; its long tail 
continually gets in its way. It is said that if you are chased 
on shore by a crocodile, run crookedly and you will escape. 

The crocodile is pretty generally disliked. It hasn't any of 
the qualities that appeal to our fancy. It is a lumbering sneak- 
thief with a low, crafty disposition. It becomes necessary at 
times to clear the brutes out of certain spots, for they have a 
habit of lying in wait for bathers, or women who come to wash, 
and suddenly rushing upon them. Directly any great work 
commences near a river bank in India the crocodiles appear and 
keep a continual death watch. While working high up on a 
scaffold of a bridge, for instance, it is not nice to feel that if 
you slip, and even escape being dashed to pieces by the fall, 
there is a hungry crocodile waiting for you. 

In shooting the crocodile it is necessary to get at the beast 
from short range, and great caution is necessary. The brute 
has a way of suddenly making a vicious sweep with its tail 
and if a man should be unlucky enough to be near he would 
be killed, or at least have his legs broken. The sting-ray, 
the shark and the crocodile all understand how to use their 
tails as weapons of offense. The crocodile's tenacity of life is great 
and it frequently takes a lot of shooting before it gives in. 

The crocodile is really a scavenger. It hangs around in the 
river pools and eats almost anything that chances along and in 
this way is useful in a tropical country. The harvest time of 
the crocodile is during the great rains when the floods bring 
down numbers of drowned sheep and oxen. This period is 
also the easiest one in which to tackle the brute because it 



THE CROCODILE 



is usually gorged with food and therefore slower of movement; 
also o-reed for more makes it give up for a time some of its 
habitual caution. 

The birds shown in the picture have a curious habit of 
picking and cleaning the crocodile's teeth. They are the only 




living things safe near this creature. It is quite a common 
sight to see the bird at work standing inside the brute s open 
jaws. The bird removes matter that collects where the 
crocodile is unable to get at it. It is surely an extraordinary 
provision of nature. The rhinoceros also has a bird compan- 
ion that treats it in much the same way. 



THE LEOPARDS 

The Leopard is easily distinguished from the other members of 
the great cat family by the groups, or rosettes, of spots that 
cover its skin. It is a very widely distributed animal being 
found in Africa as well as over a large part of lower Asia. The 
ancient Egyptians were very fond of using the leopard's skin 
as an article of dress. 

The leopard is a mighty hunter and its exploits in this line 
have made it famous. It is said that half the crimes in India 
that are charged to the tiger's account are really the result of 
the leopard's activity. 

It is probable that the animals fear the leopard on the whole 
more than the tiger. It has one accomplishment however that 
its large cousin has not, and that is it is an excellent climber. 
Sometimes bands of monkeys mob the tiger, shrieking and 
hurling sticks at it until it beats a hasty retreat. Now they 
would never be foolish enough to try such tricks with an angry 
leopard, for the latter would instantly clamber after the rascals 
through the trees. The two deadly enemies of the monkeys 
are the great snakes and the leopard. Sometimes the forests 
are suddenly aroused at dead of night by yells of rage and 
terror. The listener may then be sure that a snake or leopard 
has ambushed a sleeping colony of monkeys. It will be hours 
before the disturbance is over. 

Another trick of the leopard is that of lying on an over- 
hanging limb of a tree across some trail and from there silently 
dropping like a stone on any deer or other game that happens 
to pass beneath. 

The leopard hasn't always its caution with it for it sometimes 
foolishly picks a quarrel with an animal larger and more power- 
ful than itself such as a rhinoceros, and it takes all its skill and 
agikty to get away with a whole skin. 



THE LEOPARDS 

Near Singapore is found the splendid Black Leopard. This 
is the rarest, most beautiful and dangerous of its kind. The 
creature seems to have a permanently bad temper. The hunting 
of this leopard entails some risk for when wounded it has been 
known to attack man. In spite of its small size its strength is 
enormous. The leopard, as far as shooting goes, is not a very 
difficult animal to kill, but the young hunter can never be too 
cautious. The speed and swiftness of motion of this animal 




defy description. It is almost too wary to enter a trap, 
although on rare occasions it tumbles into a hidden pit-fall built 
for some other animal. 

The leopard does not avoid man as much as the tiger and 
will even go so far as to steal stray dogs from the edge of the 
villages. On rare occasions a leopard has entered courtyards 
and stolen a dead sheep or other meat left hanging unguarded. 
In the way of small live creatures nothing comes amiss to the 
leopard's larder, for it forages in all sorts of weird corners. 



THE RHINOCEROS 



There are three kinds of Rhinoceros found in Southern Asia. 
The first is the Indian variety, the second the Javan variety 
and the third the Sumatran variety. The finest of these three 
is the Indian Rhinoceros. This specimen is very powerfully 
built, having deep folds in its thick and ponderous skin and 
above all it has a single short thick business-like looking horn. 
Some specimens of rhinoceros have hardly any horn at 
all, others a long and tapering one, but the one, worn by the 
Indian species closely resembles the ram of a modern batde- 

ship. The rhinoceros is not 
very common in India, being 
confined to the dense swampy 
jungles, but once in a while it 
roams in search of a change of 
diet and then it becomes a ter- 
rible nuisance. The rhinoceros 
loves any young growing green 
thmg and when the crops are 
just coming to perfection a visit 
from one of these hungry creat- 
ures is a calamity to the farmer. 
It is not that the appetite of the rhinoceros is so great but 
its bulk is so large that it will trample a wheat field to pieces. 
Furthermore, the strength of the creature allows it to make 
straight for its chosen object, passing ruthlessly over walls, 
hedges and ditches. The bill for repairs is large after a visit 
from a rhinoceros. 

The hunting of this huge animal is full of excitement and 
danger. Two men bent on killing a rhinoceros heard that one 
was lying at the edge of a swamp not far from the village. At 
sunrise they started on their hunt, with a native shikari for 





THE RHINOCEROS COMES DOWN TO DRINK 



THE RHINOCEROS 



guide. They made their way to the thicket and then separated. 
One hunter who was considerably in advance of his partner 
nearly walked on top of the huge beast. The rhinoceros was 
standing in the shade of a large tree and its dirty hide matched 
the shadows exactly, rendering It all but Invisible. The beast 
had heard its enemies coming and had stood motionless wait- 
ing to see who it might be. The man and beast eyed each 




A FULL GROWN INDIAN RHINOCEROS 

other for a moment or two in mutual astonishment and then 
the rhino snorting angrily charged. The hunter got out of the 
way and allowed his companion to shoot. The rhinoceros 
wheeled and charged first one man, then the other. After a 
stern battle the beast fell dead. 

The rhinoceros is a very difficult animal to kill. Its skin is 
extremely tough and its bones so huge that it takes a first class 
bullet to penetrate them. The most deadly spot to shoot at, 
and the most difficult to hit, is the brain. The horn of the 



THE RHINOCEROS 




At the same time how- 
the danger entailed in 



rhinoceros forms a natural protection to the brain which in 
itself is ridiculously small for so huge an animal. 
The rhinoceros represents blind, stupid pluck, for once its 
temper is roused it charges any- 
thing and everything and it will 
keep up the fight when loaded 
with lead, and will return to the 
charge and move about quickly 
even on three legs. 

The Rhinoceros of Java is 
another single-horned variety, 
but it is nothing like as large, 
nor as imposing as its Indian cousin, 
ever its hunting is just as difficult and 
its pursuit is very great. The natives sometimes succeed in 
killing this beast without the help of modern high-powered 
rifles. To conquer one of these animals in this way it is 
necessary to have numbers. The rhinoceros cannot kill a 
hundred of its human enemies and the chances, are that it will 
be seriously wounded in the struggle. Quite often though 
these hunts end with the maiming or killingr of half a dozen 
natives. Men who have witnessed the rhinoceros killing say 
that the business is very exciting and that the natives show great 
pluck in facing the enraged brute. The efforts of the crowd 
are always directed towards hamstringing it and then its killing 
is an easy matter. Spears and heavy two-handed swords are 
the favorite weapons and they can only be wielded by an 
expert. In spite of the clumsy appearance of the rhinoceros 
it is a swift animal and can run a short distance with astonish- 



ing speed. It is said that a rhinoceros on 

overtake a horse, that is, unless the latter has a flying start. 



rouof^h orround 



ill 



THE RHINOCEROS 




The Sumatran Rhinoceros is another small specimen, but it 
possesses two, not very imposing horns, furthermore its skin 
is entirely smooth, and to a small degree is hairy. This is a 
true swamp dweller and is a quarrelsome animal to deal with. 

The beast is said to be the swiftest runner of the whole 
family and is frequently referred to by the natives as the 
" trotting" rhino. 



THE ELEPHANT OF ASIA 

Except in rare cases the hunting of the Elephant has ceased 
entirely in Asia. In the lands that are under the control of 
the Indian Government the elephant is sure of protection. Its 
intelligence and enormous strength make it a far more useful 
animal alive than dead. In fact when this aspect is considered 
it seems a shame that the elephants should ever have been 
shot at all. 

The elephant is very knowing and clever and in a short 
time it can be broken to obedience. The process of breaking 
is a strenuous one, but the lesson once learnt, does not have to 
be repeated. A wild elephant is put to school and taught like 
any boy. A great deal has been written about the methods 
of catching the elephant, and without going into elaborate 
details, it is something like this. An old and well-trained 
"tusker" is turned loose in the jungles and forests where the 
wild elephants are known to be lurking. In some mysterious 
way the wild animals follow the leadership of the tame ones. 
It is apparent at once that this scheme would never work with 
a herd of deer for instance, as the bucks would set upon the 
new-comer and drive it away. Not so with the elephants, for 
they seem to accept their civilized brother. As a rule there 
will often be many bulls in a herd of elephants and if their 
security is threatened they all unite against the common 
enemy, instead of quarreling among themselves. 

The trained tusker may be gone several days, but the 
hunters do not worry for they know that it will gradually lead 
the wild herd towards a certain part of the jungle where a 
huge V shaped corral has been built. Here the herd suddenly 
finds itself entrapped. The scene about a corral when a herd 
first arrives is one never to be forgotten. It is usual to attempt 
to bring the animals in after nightfall, for then they do not 



THE ELEPHANT OF ASIA 



see quite as well as in daytime and are less likely to take alarm. 
This is necessary for the elephant is very suspicious. 

Crowds of natives lie hidden about the mouth of the huge 
V stockade, and directly the elephants enter between the con- 
cealed walls, they spring out shrieking, beating drums and 
wavine torches, and the terrified creatures are driven like a 
flock of sheep through the narrow head of the V into the 
detention pens beyond where they are hopeless prisoners. 




When the elephants realize that they are caught a stampede 
takes place. The huge beasts struggle to break down the stout 
stockade walls, for all sense of unity of action leaves them, and 
each. one struggles individually to get away. Frequently small 
females and young ones are killed, so frightful is the crush. 
Gradually the panic subsides, often because the creatures are 
too exhausted to struggle any more ; then it is time for the 
sorting out of the most likely members of the herd. Those 
that are to be trained are selected by the headmen and turned 



THE ELEPHANT OF ASIA 



over to the drivers. It is quite a job getting the doomed 
elephant away from its fellows and it is accomplished very 
much in the same manner as our Western cow-punchers " cut 
out" a steer from the herd. 

Now as to the process of training, it is this. A big elephant 
is singled out and driven into a small corral all by itself There 
ropes are placed about its feet and it is securely fastened to a 
stout tree. It spends its first day or so, lashing about in rage, 
but as it is kept without food its struggles grow weaker until it 
is completely exhausted. This is natural ; suppose you shut a 
small but very bad-tempered boy up in a room with nothing 
to eat. In thirty-six hours he would be quite ready to listen 
to reason, so it is with the elephant. The next process consists 
of bringing two tame elephants into the corral. These are 
chained or yoked by the necks to the wild one and the lesson 
begins. The elephant struggles at first but it soon sees that it 
is useless. Then it is fed up, and as long as it is well-behaved 
its food comes regularly, but as soon as it gets " ugly," its 
rations are shut off, and the elephant sees in no time that peace 
and quiet will serve its ends better than rage and trickery. 
Then the elephant is placed in the charge of one driver, called 
a mahout, and the two usually become great friends. The mahout 
must be a man of great patience. He gradually teaches his 
charge, little things at first, more difficult tasks later. It takes 
about a year to get an elephant to the point where it is safe to 
work it in the open. The uses the elephants are put to are 
many. They toil in the lumber yards, help at the clearings, 
carry material to the new railway workings and haul the field- 
guns across roadless mountain passes. 

There is still some elephant hunting in Siam, which Is 
nominally an independent kingdom, though within the " sphere 



THE ELEPHANT OF ASIA 



of influence " of France. The government though keeps a strict 
watch on the hunters and their kills. A friend of the writers 
said that just at sunrise one day he came upon a herd of wild 
elephants and got within two hundred yards of them and 
succeeded in exposing a.camera plate. The herd apparently did 
not notice the photographer as they gradually moved away in 
search of shelter. The elephants feed at night and it is very 
awe inspiring to hear a herd crashing through the forests and 




trumpeting loudly to one another. The same traveller relates 
that an Englishman, just arrived In Siam, was much struck by 
our friend's successful photos and determined to try his hand. 
He got quite close to a herd and obtained several good snaps. 
Then he drew a revolver and blazed away at the game. The 
females fled at once, but one enraged bull charged the rash 
man. There was no refuse close at hand and the Enorlishman 
and the huge beast played tag until the elephant won. The 
fellow did not appear in camp by noon and a search was made. 



THE ELEPHANT OF ASIA 



Practically nothing of his body was left intact, for the elephant 
had literally trampled it to pieces. All new-comers are warned 
to treat a wild elephant herd with respect, that is if they put 
any value upon their lives. 

In the good old days when elephant hunting was a legiti- 
mate pastime the hardy men who followed the sport all declare 
that it was most exciting. The charge of a wounded elephant 
is terrific. It goes straight for its enemy and nothing but the 
stoutest tree will check its career. When its huge bulk is 
considered it is remarkably nimble, for it can wheel and turn a 
corner with lightning speed. When the elephant runs it does 
so with a peculiar shuffling motion which is very deceiving, for 
when really moving the brute is exceedingly swift. Its normal 
gait however is a slow and dignified walk. 

The elephant is not so difficult to shoot as the rhinoceros for 
the latter's bones and covering are much tougher. But woe to 
the inexperienced hunter who maims an elephant and then falls 
to get another shot. The fury of the beast is frightful to be- 
hold. There is an instance related of a hunter who did just 
this thing to a large bull elephant. He had been concealed in 
a small tree and from there had made his shot. The elephant 
soon spied its enemy and charged the tree with its head. The 
impact of the blow sent the hunter forty feet through the air, 
the fall breaking'his- back. 

Taken on the whole the elephant, when in a wild state, is 
not an aggressive animal. On first seeing a man a herd will 
stampede rather than attack him. The females however when 
they have young are always dangerous to approach. Both 
sexes are very affectionate and will defend a helpless youngster 
to the last ditch and if it is hurt in any way the distress of the 
parents is very pathetic to behold. 







^if- 



iki' 






THE ELEPHANT AT HOME 



THE BANTENGE 

The Bantenge, or Banteng as it is sometimes spelt, lives in 
the Island of Java and there takes the place of the wild 
cattle of India. When the Bantenge is caught young it can 
be tamed. The natives of Java have been quite successful 
in making this huge animal a beast of burden, it being quite 
useful for ploughing where the ground is very marshy or 
muddy. 

Hunters in Java have reported that the wild Bantenge is 
a beast by no means to be despised. One account is given 
of a party of hunters who had wandered far inland among 
the jungles. Early one morning they came across the tracks 
of a pair of these creatures. They were out of fresh meat 
and decided to make a kill. They knew that while the 
animal was very shy, no very great caution was needed in its 
chase. The tracks were followed and led farther and farther 
into the densest part of the jungle where there was danger 
of taking fever and meeting with poisonous snakes. Sud- 
denly at a small clearing the game came in sight. The cow 
immediately ran away and could be heard crashing through 
the creepers and undergrowth. The bull turned to look at 
its enemies, lashing its tail and snorting and pawing the 
ground in anger. The bull evidently made up its mind that 
it would not fight and it turned to follow the cow. A few 
steps carried it into the shadows and its colors harmonised 
so perfectly with the trees that it was all but invisible. One 
of the hunters chanced a shoulder shot, but it flew high and 
only inflicted a flesh wound. In an instant the bantenge 
charged. The party scattered but one unfortunate native gun- 
carrier was caught and flung against a tree trunk and in- 
stantly killed. The huge creature wheeled like lighting and 
charged again. A second shot crippled a fore-leg but this 



THE BANTENGE 



seemed to check it but little. Matters were beginning to 
look serious, for the party were in the midst of dense 
creepers that prevented a man from running, but offered no 
resistance to the bulk and weight of the enraged bantenge. A 
native hunter now leapt to one side and got a clean shoulder 






' \ 



^ '^^t \ 




shot and the brute toppled head over heels and lay dead. 

The account of this hunt is rather exceptional for the 
bantenge is not usually very aggressive. Any large member 
of the cattle family is dangerous when roused. We have 
only to look at our own domestic bull to see what effect 
injury or fright will have upon its temper. 



THE YAK OF TIBET 

The shaggy, fierce-looking Yak is really a game animal, 
although, like the elephant, it has been caught and tamed by man. 
When broken to harness the poor yak is the most miserable 
and abused creature in the world and its temper is always bad; 
but wild, and on its native heath, it is quite a majestic creature. 
The yak is really the " Bison of Tibet," and this name has often 
been applied to it. It lives very comfortably anywhere from 
ii.ooo to 14.000 feet up, and appears indifferent to the awful 
storms that sweep the mountains that it inhabits. 

For its safety the yak appears to rely entirely upon its nose, 
for its sense of smell is little short of marvellous. On the other 
hand the creature's hearing and eyesight are not good. There- 
fore in hunting the yak it must always be approached against 
the wind, and the stronger it is the better. The reader is sure 
to have noticed that all animals that live in the pure air at great 
heights, like our wild sheep, and some kinds of deer, have a 
wonderfully keen sense of smell. The dwellers of the low- 
lands gradually get their senses blunted. If a boy goes for a 
month into the woods, he will find his powers of smell vastly 
increased when he returns to his home, but it will soon wear off. 

The yak has a habit of grazing in elevated positions where 
its nose is on guard all the time, and then it is a most difficult 
animal to approach. 

A well-known hunter crossed over from India through one of 
the open passes ir^^o Tibet and then proceeded into the unex- 
plored regions. After a five days march, which caused him 
great pain, he and his hunters camped at a height of 16.000 
feet. The next day the party came across a herd of yak. 
There was a mist over everything at first and though the yak 
could not be seen they were plainly heard grunting to one 
another. This sound is most peculiar and has caused the 



THE YAK OF TIBET 



animal to be called quite frequently the "grunting ox." When 
the mist cleared the herd was not far away, but in such a 
position that it took the party a solid hour of scrambling before 
they could get in range. The hunter chose the largest bull 
specimen and fired. The herd ran at once, leaving their lord 
and master behind. After struggling a few seconds it fell dead. 




A wounded yak is a very dangerous animal for It will charge 
a hunter without the slightest hesitation. 

Its fur is exceedingly long and the natives of Tibet weave it 
into a very strong and heavy cloth. A yak-nair coat will resist 
the cold to a wonderful degree, even in Tibet, which is one of 
the earth's most rigorous countries. The yak is found chiefly 
along the entire north side of the Himalayas, and then it 
stretches back to the north over practically all Tibet and on 
to the borderland mountain ranges of Mongolia. 



ASIATIC BEARS 



There are several well-known species of Bears found in 
various parts of Asia, but none are so important as the 
specimens living in our own country. 

The Indian Sloth Bear is perhaps the best known. This 
bear, in looks and build, is utterly different from any other kind. 




It has an uncombed appearance, while its snout is white, 
giving it a very odd look when viewed from the front. The 
name " sloth " refers to some of its characteristics in form which 
resemble those of the South American animal of that name; 
in fact it may be a link between the sloths and the bears. The 
reader must not get the impression that the name "sloth" refers 
to any inactivity, for of all bears it is one of the most lively and 



ASIATIC BEARS 

quarrelsome. This fine creature lives in the great forests of 
India. It is not at all common by any means. India has perhaps 
the greatest array of wild animals of any country in the world, 
but in the matter of bears she is poorly represented. 

It should be stated that in the Himalayas is found another 
very fine species that closely parallels our black bear. Again 
still further to the North lives a curious creature known as 
the Hairy-Eared Bear. This fellow comes from the Altai 
Mountains in Mongolia. It is rather a rare creature, and not 
often seen in captivity. The island of Yezo in Japan produces 
a very large bear, which nearly approaches our grizzly in bulk 
and appearance. The natives regard the creature with awe. 

Another well known animal is the curious little Malayan 
Sun Bear. It is the smallest, ugliest and the most vicious 
member of the family. One writer described it as " pure devil.' 
It is found throughout the great Southern islands — Java, 
Sumatra and Borneo. It is said to always have a chip on its 
shoulder and be most anxious to fight. When it gets in a rage 
it stands on its hind legs and squeals, not infrequently barking 
like a dog. It is an excellent climber, spending a large part 
of its time preying on the monke3's, lemurs and other small 
creatures that live in the high forest trees. Its real food how- 
ever consists of tropical fruit and leaves, and only its ill-nature 
prompts it to make life miserable for other creatures that live 
near it. The hunter needs caution in tackling the sun bear for 
it is swift and, though small, it is dangerous to wound. 

Another famous creature is the Syrian Bear. This is the 
bear that is mentioned so many times in the Bible, for on one 
occasion a pair of them slew the young idolaters who insulted 
the aged prophet. From an historical standpoint therefore this 
bear has been known longer to the world than any other. 



AXIS DEER 

India produces no more handsome a lltde animal than the 
Axis Deer. It ranges over the Western half of Hindustan, 
and as far south as Ceylon. 

One evening at sunset a hunter was lying in wait for any 
game that might chance to come along. Within gun shot 
stretched a drinking pool. The slanting rays of the setting sun 
were already turning the jungle trees blood red, and the wild 
creatures of the night were beginning to yawn and stretch them- 
selves before starting for their night prowls. While the hunter 
was watching, a pair of axis deer came out into the open. The 
pretty spotted creatures trod so lightly that they had come into 
view without making a sound. The buck was nervous, strain- 
ing its eyes and ears in every direction, and lightly stamping 
its fore feet, while the doe stood watching her lord ready, at a 
moments notice, to fly after him. The hunter felt positive he 
had not been winded, for he was already in position. He had 
not made a stalk, so he knew that he could not have been 
heard. He decided not to shoot for a moment or two, but 
wait and see what would develop. It took will power to lie 
still for the mosquitoes buzzed around his head, and the tiny 
ants were investigating inside his hunting boots, and trying to 
carry him away piecemeal. The doe moved away some 
twenty yards, standing ankle-deep in the water, with head bent 
down to drink. The buck had not relaxed its vigilance, how- 
ever, and a moment or two later the hunter saw that there had 
been good reason for caution. Just beyond the buck, and in 
the opposite direction from which it was looking, the hunter 
saw a movement near a rock, and a moment later a huge 
python, the largest of Indian snakes, raised its head. Inch by 
inch it rose, at the same time coiling its body ready for a 
strike. The splendid reptile balanced a moment and then 



AXIS DEER 

Struck. In a flash one coil was around the buck, quickly 
followed by a second. The victim was not strong enough to 
fly with its enemy hanging on to it, but instead it struck out, 
right and left, with its horns, inflicting a fearful wound in the 
snake's side. But the reptile did not wince, instead its glisten- 
ing coils tightened mercilessly, and the buck collapsed. Then 




the great snake uncoiled and lay looking at its prey. Again 
it ratsed its head and the hunter fired. The snake wound up 
like a huge watch spring, and then as swiftly straightened out 
and fell to lashing with its tail. Again and again, the tail 
smashed against the buck, knocking its body about as though 
it weifrhed nothing. But even a python cannot stand an 



AXIS DEER 



express bullet ; its struggles grew weaker and at length it lay 
dead, its huge coils still moving with unspent muscular energy. 
The hunter made his way to the pair, and running his hand 
along the deer's sides, he found that every rib had been broken, 
the skin sinking under the fist pressure like a sponge. 

The hunter, well satisfied with his quarry, hastily made his 
way back to camp, and after the evening meal sat back in a 
cloth chair, and watched his men skin both victims, while 
around stood a ring of jackals waiting to make a meal of the 
useless bodies. At length the skinning processes over, the 
bodies were hurled away to become at once centres around 
which fought a snarling, snapping ring of demons. The 
python measured eighteen feet stretched, probably about six- 
teen feet, or a little more, when it was alive. 

Both sexes of the axis deer are spotted, and the male has 
beautiful horns. The little fawns, too, are spotted from birth. 
In size the axis deer is small, being about the weight of a 
moderate Virginia deer. It is very shy, and moves chiefly at 
night, hence it is considered more rare than it really is. A 
hunter might spend some time in an Indian section where the 
axis deer is plentiful, and yet not see a single specimen. Once 
in a while a pair may be flushed in day time while beating the 
jungle for other game. 

The worst enemies of the axis deer are the leopards and 
tigers. To them it is an easy prey, for it is not blessed with 
particularly keen senses, and it is easily pulled down. It is 
very swift of foot, and if either of the great cats misses its 
spring, they will not go after it, for the deer will vanish like the 
wind. The skin of the axis deer is often seen in American 
houses in the shape of rugs. The fur isn't very long but what 
there is of it has good quality. 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 

In the opinion of the late Sir Samuel Baker the Black Buck 
afforded the best sport of any of the antelopes of India. 

The color of the adult males is very striking. The back 
and sides are pitch black, while the under parts are snow white. 
The eye too is surrounded by a white ring. The horns are of 
a graceful spiral shape and have a series of rings running their 
whole length. These horns average about twenty-five inches 
in length. The females are not as strikingly colored as the 
bucks, their coats having a distinct brown tinge. The males 
do not acquire their perfect coloring until they are at least five 
years old. Before that time their dark parts are more or less 
sooty-gray. This is easily seen when looking at a small herd 
containing bucks from one to seven years old. The contrast 
in size is not as great as that of color. 

These little antelopes are found all over India, but are not 
evenly distributed. The question of food supply and persecution 
seems to exert a large control over their numbers. In parts 
of Central India hunters report having seen herds of black 
buck numbering several hundred individuals, but the average 
size of a herd is about twenty animals, or even less. These 
small herds are always under the control of the largest and 
finest buck, who holds his authority solely by dint of horns and 
strength. The tyrannical rule of the master-buck is very comical 
to watch. If one of the smaller bucks casts loving looks upon 
a doe, the leader promptly stops, and eyes the pair with disdain, 
as if blowing up the doe for her weakness. Then it attacks 
the offending buck, and if it is a very young one it gets a good 
thrashing from the master's horns and is perhaps driven away 
from the herd altogether. The outcast then wanders free until 
it grows larger and is able to acquire mastery, through a series 
of fierce battles, over a herd of its own. 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 

It is said that the black bucks are the most quarrelsome and 
pugnacious of all the antelope family. When two males of 
about even size agree to "have it out" the battle lasts a long 
time, and they become so absorbed and interested in the fight 
that they may be approached without difficulty. The females 
fly from the hunter in alarm, but the two fighters do not seem 
to notice their absence. In this way many a lucky hunter 




shoots first one buck down and then the other before it has 
grasped the cause of its enemy's downfall. There are stories 
told of hunters stalking a pair of fighting bucks and securing 
one or both of them with a rope. This is a risky business for 
the black buck when roused is an ugly little creature to handle. 
The herds of black buck are a great nuisance to the native 
farmers for they raid his crops in shameless fashion. The 
religion of the Hindus forbids their killing and maiming 
animals, and the black buck seems to take advantage of this 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 



fact. They destroy chiefly the young wheat just as it shows 
green a few inches above the earth. The fields then have to 
be watched day and night. This antelope however is very 
much afraid of the sound of a gun or explosion, and on hearing- 
one they will run away, and if there is no shelter near at hand 
they may leave the neighborhood altogether. 

The black buck runs in the most extraordinary fashion. It 
does not gallop like most of its kind but progresses in a series 
of leaps which carry it six feet straight up in the air, some- 
thing after the fashion of the springboks of South Africa. Its 
speed is enormous, and once it has got a good start it will 
maintain a gait of fifty or sixty miles an hour without any 
trouble. 

The hunting of the black buck is conducted in three ways — 
by the gun — or the dog — or the hunting leopard. In stalking 
this little antelope no very great caution is necessary. The 
black buck will not take any notice of natives, and they will 
even let a white man approach within a couple of hundred 
yards, provided he is driving or on horse back, but the instant 
he stops to look at them they take instant alarm and vanish 
like masfic. A favorite trick of hunters is to hire a slow mov- 
ing ox-cart and take it with them for a " stalking horse." They 
walk on the side away from the game, being hidden by the cart. 
The black buck look at the cart with its native driver and see 
nothing about it to alarm them. Then, getting in range, the 
hunter drops on his knee and as the cart draws clear he shoots 
before the herd have sighted him. This scheme works very 
well. Sometimes the black buck can be approached in broken 
country by getting a bush between them and the stalker, but 
it is necessary to walk quietly, and keep the gun covered for 
the slightest glint of sunlight on the bright metal parts will 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 




stampede the herd in an instant. We have seen cases reported 
in which a hunter has got up to a small herd while singing 
or whistling. The animals promptly wheel around and stand 
at attention listening to the strange sound. In this way, with 
luck, the hunter gets within range. It is necessary to make a 
clean shot at a black buck, for the litde creature's tenacity of 
life is wonderful, and it will get away with a bad flesh wound 
that would stop many a larger animal. 

The second method of hunting the black buck is with the 
help of a couple of speedy dogs. Unless the dogs manage 
to get up very close indeed before the herd takes alarm they 
may as well give it up. The whole chance of the dogs lies in 
taking their quarry by surprise. The late Sir Samuel Baker 
expressed the opinion that a black buck would, in the majority 
of cases, outrun a greyhound. He stated though that he had 
never seen the experiment tried. One thing is certain, how- 
ever, and that is that if the chase were held over a large stretch 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 



of ground the greyhound would soon be left behind. The 
black buck runs equally well on rough or smooth land, and it 
has been known to shake off a less sure-footed enemy in this 
fashion; the dogs for instance have no show over rocky ground. 
The third method of hunting the black buck is with the 
Cheetah or hunting leopard. This beautiful creature has been 




-*■■'£ ■^*' 



used for centuries in the chase. A native is placed in charge 
of it, and it is carried in an ox-cart, with a slip-knot cloth 
bandage over its eyes. Direcdy a herd of black buck is sighted, 
the ox-cart is driven quite slowly forwards, at an angle, endeav- 
ouring to get as close up as possible. Then the native hunter 
slips the bandage from the hunting leopard's eyes. In a second 
or two, the well-trained creature spies the game and slips out 



THE BLACK BUCK OF INDIA 

of the cart. The oxen meanwhile are kept going. The 
leopard crouches down and stealthily makes its way towards the 
feeding herd. The moment it gets within striking distance it 
bounds at the nearest buck, and with a superb spring lands on 
its back, and pulls it down. The cart is then stopped and the 
hunters hasten to the kill. The leopard is given part of the 
buck's blood to drink as a reward, and then its eyes are 
bandaged again, and the ox-cart moves on in search of more 
game. Sometimes the cheetah misses its strike, and if it does 
not catch the buck in half a dozen strides it gives up and lies 
down lashing its tail with anger and disgust. For a short 
distance the speed of the cheetah is terrific, its motion cannot 
exactly be called a gallop. It seems to concentrate all its 
energy into one splendid rush. The weight of the cheetah is 
not very great, but its impact at full speed would easily over- 
turn a heavy annual. 

The cheetah is the longest legged of the cat family. Its 
head is small in proportion to its body, but its stretch of jaws 
is not great. It is found in Africa as well as over a large 
section of Southern Asia. It is rather a rare animal and is not 
often met with in a wild state. It takes very kindly to cap- 
tivity, and many of the best hunters have been born in the 
Indian rajah's cages. 

The common leopard is much more numerous than the 
cheetah, but anyone, with half an eye, could never confuse the 
two. This leopard can be tamed and safely handled better 
than any other member of the larger cats. The sport of stalking 
the black buck is chiefly carried on by the native chiefs as 
but few Englishmen possess a tame cheetah. Everyone who 
has been present at a royal hunt admits that the sport was 
well worth watching. 



THE SIBERIAN WILD SHEEP 

In the opinions of some authorities the finest of all the Wild 
Sheep comes from Siberia. Rumors that the central mountains 
had in their fastnesses a species with unequalled horn measure 
came to the West from time to time, but it is only within quite 
recent years that this splendid wild sheep has been looked up, 
classified and put where it belongs. 

This sheep, many hunters declare, is the natural head, by 
right of its size and beauty, of the large tribe. It inhabits the 
wind-swept treeless highland regions of Siberia and Mongolia, 
roughly in a line from the Altai Mountains to Lake Baikal, 
but also extending south into Turkestan. Luckily for the 
sheep they live in a portion of the world that is only imper- 
fecdy known to the geographers and even less to adventurous, 
wandering sportsmen. 

A hunter, famous for his daring exploits. In search of big 
game, gives this account of his efforts to get specimens of the 
Siberian Sheep. First of all the Altai mountains lie in Russia, 
and before the Russian government will issue a passport they 
must be assured that the hunter has only big game In view, 
and Is not a spy, or travelling with a secret ultra-political 
object. However, thanks to the British Ambassador in St 
Petersburg, the permit was Issued and the hunter was oK 
The overland train takes one just so far In the right direction, 
and from the terminus It is necessary to post for nearly 
thirty days over what the Russians call roads, but what In the 
United States we should not dignify by the name of trails. At 
length, aching in every limb, the hunter saw the forbidding 
peaks of the great mountains looming up against the sky line, 
and he knew that his tortures were nearly over. 

The journey taken by the hunter lay along one of the great 
tea-trade routes to China, consequently the villages met were of 



TIIK SIBERIAN WILD SHEEP 



a better order than is usually found in that inhospitable land, 
the inns being clean and the food passable. 

Luckily our hunter ran across a friendly Kalmuck chief 
who told him that he would surely find his game close at hand 
and furthermore provided him with sturdy little ponies and a 
veteran guide from the mountains. During a stroll near the 
camp the hunter was startled to find the skull and horns of a 
ram of the very game he was after. He had heard all the 
stories of the horned splendor of this beast, but he was not 
prepared for what met his eyes. There before him, like a 
mute witness, lay a pair of horns, that might have graced a 
Temple of Jupiter, measuring nearly five feet long and as thick 
at their base as a man's thigh. The guide, who was watching 
with evident amusement, shrugged his shoulders and said that 
the horns were of averatje size. 

The next morning the hunt began in earnest. The guide 
had said that at that season of the year the great sheep would 
be found among the new grass. A couple oi hours ride uphill 
on the httle ponies brought them nearly to the ridges. It was 
not long before the guide's experienced eyes detected a large 
flock a mile or two away. It was necessary to advance quietly 
and with caution, but the hunter found to his relief that these 
sheep were not nearly so hard to approach as the ibex or the 
American big-horn, probably because they had not been 
hunted to any great extent. 

It was necessary to leave the ponies behind and scramble 
forward on foot. The herd, led by some splendid rams, was 
travelling along at a fair walking speed. Presently they 
reached the ridge summit and vanished on the other side. The 
hunter and the guide now broke into a sharp run, gained the 
shelter of some rocks at the top and found the sheep within 



THE SIBERIAN WILD SHEEP 

easy gunshot, but he was too much out of breath from his 
spurt to shoot with any certainty of hitting the mark. 

Before his heart ceased beating and he was In condition to 
be sure of his aim the beasts took alarm, probably from a back 
draught of the wind. All stopped eating and every head was 
held erect. There was not an instant to lose. Chooslne the 
nearest ram, which was really about as large as any In the 




©jE^ti^-Sir-^^Stf^^SS; 



herd, the hunter fired. The great beast sprang clear In the 
air and then rolled over klcklnsr and struofCTlIng. The herd 
vanished like magic leaving their leader behind. The head 
proved to be even larger than the skull that the hunter had 
found on the first day he arrived. It is likely that within the 
next few years we shall know more of this wonderful sheep 
and exactly what relation it bears, from a naturalist's point of 
view, to the other members of its family. One thing Is certain, 
however, that In size and weight of body, beauty and breadth 
of horns it is easily In the front rank. 




IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 

The real stronghold of the Ibex is in the Him- 
alaya Mountains of India and Tibet, from which 
generations of hunters have been unable to dis- 
lodge it. Nature is on the side of the ibex, 
for the regions it inhabits are so awful that the 
men bent on hunting it, have to surmount unheard 
of difficulties until they reach their quarry successfully. 

To oive an idea of an ibex hunt it would be well to examine 
the account of a typical chase of this grand game. Two hunters 
had decided to try and get the ibex on its native heath, so 
preparations were made at once. In India, where servants 
are to be hired very cheaply, men travel in more style and take 
along luxuries that a western hunter of our country would be 
amazed at, if he did not actually scoff. But still the bearers 
can only go a certain distance, for the average Hindu dislikes 
the cold mountain regions very much, so that the main camp 
often lies some miles in the rear. 

As an actual guide the hunters had selected a fierce, black- 
eyed, be-whiskered native of the hills, a man famous for his 
strength coolness and bravery. He had safely piloted many 
hunting parties of Englishmen before. Starting out from 
the nearest hill station, the party travelled away to the 
north, ever toward the glistening frontier ranges. Twenty- 
four hours later the great snowy peaks seemed as far away as 
ever. But the party went steadily up hill and the land soon 
began to change, the jungles vanished and their places were 
taken by huge forests of primeval splendour. Once in a while 
a human habitation would be passed such as a tiny farm, 
clinging with might and main to the steep hillside, where fierce- 
eyed farmers came and bargained with the guide for eggs and 
chickens. Even this sign of life passed away, and the hunters 



IBEX HUNTING IX THE HIMALAYAS 



plunged into the unknown regions. Here a permament camp 
was erected to act as a base, and from there the real hunting 
expeditions were to take place. The guide, and two hardy 
Httle brown-skinned gourkhas, tough, wiry and bred to the 
hardships of the mountains, and the hunters formed the party. 
Durine the dav, ahhouoh the sun was hioh. makincr the air 
warm, it was nec- 



essary to cross 
mountain streams 
whose water was 
so cold that it 
made the feet 
ache. There was 
but little rest, for 
these hunts are 
often done in 
" rushes," so the 
climb was always 
up, up. 

Near sunset the 
group found them- 
selves upon a bare 
o u 1 1 }■ i n g ridge 
while above them, 
towering in majes- 
tic silence, rose 
the snowy peaks 
of the Himalayas. 
The next day the 
party pressed far- 
ther still into the 




IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 

mountains. The aneroids recorded eleven thousand feet, and 
already the two white men showed slight signs of mountain 
sickness. The next night brought the party nearly to thirteen 
thousand feet and both hunters gave out. Under the exper- 
ienced hands of the guide, the two men made rapid progress, 
lost their headaches and inertia, and were ready for action for 
they were now close to the ibex ground. 

The next day the hunt began in earnest and was chiefly 
spent in searching the mountain sides but not a trace of ibex 
could be found. The two hunters were disappointed but 
made no comment, while the guide himself promised nothing, 
said nothing. The following" day at sunrise the ridges to the 
north were searched. Early in the afternoon, while the hunters 
were lying flat among the rocks, scanning the gray mountain 
sides in every direction, the guide's hand closed with a grip of 
steel on one hunter's wrist, while he pointed down the valley 
among the rocks some distance away. The native's eyes, 
( whether better, or trained for the work ) had seen the game 
move. Neither of the hunters could detect anything stirring 
for at least five minutes. Then they made out a small herd 
composed of some females and a couple of rams moving very 
slowly with the wind behind them. Nothing could have suited 
their plans better. The guide and the hunters soon began to 
descend on the herd, for they had spied them while they were 
resting at an altitude of over fourteen thousand feet. The guide 
went first, the other two followed close behind, every advantage 
being taken of the huge stones to hide their approach. 

Suddenly, at a steep spot, one of the hunters trod on a treach- 
erous boulder, it turned over once, then again with added 
momentum, and then went crashing down into the valley 
beneath. The guide fell flat on his face at once, and the other 



IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 

two did likewise. For an hour they did not stir. Then the 
guide slowly rose, and taking advantage of a tuft of brush, 
looked down the valley. A miracle must have happened for 
the ibex had not scampered away — the guide smiled grimly 
and said " the rock was an accident, Sahib, it could not be 
helped, but the gods favor us — the herd is not alarmed. From 
now on, silence ! " The three rose and proceeded downwards with 
the utmost caution. At length reaching a flat rock bounded 
with loose scree they halted. Rifles were placed in position, 
while the guide peeped cautiously. Half an hour later the 
hunters saw with delight that the herd was slowly coming 
along, and going to cross below them. As soon as they came 
to a favorable distance both men fired. The herd scattered 
at once, one old ram fell dead, while another badly wounded 
limped after its flying companions. Leaving the fallen ibex 
by itself, all three men set off to capture the wounded one. The 
guide had grave doubts as to their being able to do it, if it was 
only slightly hurt, but a mile on his fears were dispelled when 
they came upon their game lying dead on a patch of snow. 
During the next few days other hunts took place and a bag 
of six ibex resulted. Then food began to run dangerously short 
and a swift retreat was made to their permanent camp. From 
there they returned by easy stages down to the ever-sunny 
highlands of India once more. 

In Persia is found still another variety of the Ibex. The 
horns are not of the same build as seen in other specimens. 
The horns of the ibex of the Himalayas have the appearance 
of a rounded tooth-edge on the outer rim like a cog-wheel 
that has been worn down. On the other hand the Persian 
Ibex's horns have the cog-teeth every few inches onlv, as 
though three in four cogs were missing. 



IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 




The Persian Ibex Is found in the high mountain ranges, 
and it is nearly as hard to get at as its Himalayan brother. 
True, the mountains it loves so well, are not of the size, or the 
terrific aspect of those of India, but the conditions met with 
during the hunts fairly brisde with difficulties. 

A hunter bent on running down this ibex, took ship to Aden, 
and from there travelled in a native trading dhow, through the 
Straits of Ormus into the Persian gulf He had noted carefully 
the experiences of men who had been before him, and he knew 
something of the difficulties he was likely to meet. The 
country, he found, was hot and waterless ; indeed such little 
water as could be obtained he drank at his peril. 

The high mountains near the coast are extremely difficult to 
hunt in on account of their barrenness. There is hardly any 



IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 

shelter to aid the hunter in stalking. Then again, the region 
is calm, and sunny and the stillness among those lonely peaks 
is so great that the slightest sound vibrates entirely out of 
proportion. The echo is carried along great distances, warning 
the alert creatures of the presence of enemies. 

The ibex remain on the high ridges, and in case of danger, 
they have a habit of going to the top, so as to obtain a view 
all round. They travel over the barren wastes with such 
speed that it is almost impossible to follow them. They feed 
at daybreak and sunset, often lying down during the heat of 
the day. Their color so perfectly matches the ground that it 
is hard to pick them out. In fact a small band of ibex might 
move away from the danger zone without being seen at all, 
unless it were through a cloud of dust from their feet, and even 
this would not appear were they moving slowly. 

On one occasion this hunter watched a leopard stalk an ibex, 
and although the creature moved forward with the utmost 
caution, before it got within striking distance, the ibex took 
alarm and clattered away leaving the great cat snarling with 
disgust. But the poor leopard's troubles were not over, for the 
hunter placed a bullet between its shoulders, killing it dead. 

The coat of the leopard affords it nearly as good a protection 
as the ibex. Now it can be seen that if a professional hunter, 
like the leopard, with the help of its color, small size and silent 
tread, has difficulty in getting close to an ibex, it gives one 
some idea how much greater must be the task of a lumbering, 
clumsy man, with noisy hunting boots, and creaking belts. 
For, viewed in any light, the most skilful and silent hunter 
is noisy in his movements when compared to a beast of prey. 

On yet another occasion this hunter saw a leopard stalk a 
herd of ibex, and spring on a female. The herd fled at once, 



IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 



all but the old male who promptly came to its mate's rescue, 
and attacked the leopard with the utmost fury. It wielded its 
huge horns like clubs, and succeeded in battering the leopard 
until It let go its hold. The female, badly clawed, then got 
away and was soon rejoined by the heroic ibex. The hunter got 
the impression that the leopard was only too glad to get out 
of the mess. It limped away, showing that it had been badly 
wrenched or torn in the fio"ht. The incident gave the hunter 
a new idea of the ibex's pluck, for there are not many animals 
of its size that will face a leopard. 

Taken on the whole the ibex family is not greatly troubled 
by enemies. They are exposed to their greatest danger when 
food gives out in the mountains, and they are compelled to 
come down into the valleys. On the heights the ibex is 
fairly safe, for any beast of prey that relied on killing an ibex 
every day would soon die of starvation. 

As far as Europe is concerned the ibex may as well be 
counted out, for, if it is not quite extinct, it has become so rare 
that no hunter would credit a story of its 
appearance in one of its former haunts. 

The ibex was once plentiful in Switzer- 
land, and there may still be a few there 
under protection. There are undoubtedly 
specimens of this fine goat to be found 
in the Caucasus Mountains in Asia 
Minor. 

The ibex has vanished in recent years 
from the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada 
Mountains of Spain. With regard to this 
latter species many naturalists hold that this 
ibex wasn't an ibex at all, but closely related to the tame goat. 




IBEX HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS 

It is just possible that the breed was formed by domestic goats 
having run wild, and taken to the mountains. It has been 
declared that the finest horns ever taken from an ibex came 
from Eastern Turkestan. They were huge in proportion, and 
the graceful sweep, and regularity of ridges made them as 
nearly perfect as the heart of man could desire. 

Beluchistan is, without doubt, one of the happy hunting 
grounds for the ibex hunter, for the specimens found there are 
very fine, and reported to be fairly numerous. Hunting in 
Beluchistan is hard work, for the natives are not very trust- 
worthy, and the sportsman may lose his kit through mountain 
robbers. Beluchistan is a country that is only nominally under 
the law, and as it is surrounded by fierce and warlike people 
who enjoy a chance to make trouble, the traveller's risk is great. 
Still many hunters have gone from one end of the land to the 
other, and lived to tell the tale. 

A hunter has recorded that during a three weeks hunt he 
only obtained three heads — literally one a week — and that to 
get those he had to travel over some of the roughest and most 
mountainous country in the world. The guides are usually 
staunch and true men, especially if they have confidence in the 
hunter, that when his opportunity comes, he will not make an 
inglorious miss. The free-masonry of the hunter-folk is strong 
in any part of the world, for the chase draws all classes closer 
until they meet on common ground. 

Throughout Beluchistan the ibex ranks high as a game 
animal, just as the Bighorn or the Rocky Mountain Goat do 
with us, for in all the places that it is found the native hunters 
agree that it is a very difficult animal to shoot. A man who 
has a pair of ibex horns in his collection, from his own gun, 
has something to be proud of. 



THE MARKHOR 



The Markhor is without doubt the most lordly of all the goats. 
The appearance of this animal is most striking. Its coat is 
dark and shaggy, while under its throat the hair grows a foot 
long and is of a beautiful creamy color. But the crowning 
glory is in the horns, which are truly magnificent. They are 
black as ebony, and branch upward in a huge spiral. These 
horns sometimes attain a length of five feet ! 

The great difficulty of obtaining a specimen of this goat 
makes it appear as a blue ribbon to be won by hardy sports- 
men. Curiously enough the horns of the markhor are very 
irregular so that the spiral form is entirely missing in many 
specimens, but this only serves to whet the sportsman's zeal. 

In Beluchistan another 
species of the markhor 
is found but it is not so 
fine a beast as the one 
of India, while in Af- 
ghanistan still another 
little-known species lives which is 
said to be even larger and more 
magnificent than the Indian variety. 

A hunter, desirous of obtaining 
specimens of this wonderful goat, 
gives this account of his varied 
experiences. Having reached Ser- 
inagur from the lowlands of India, he 
obtained coolies and mountain men 
and then struck away to where the 
Kara Korum Himalayas towered to- 
ward the sky. He had been directed 
to a certain village where he was to meet a shikari, or native 




THE MARKHOR 



hunter of Kashmir. Thereafter the expedition was under the 
sole command of the shikari. For days they toiled upwards 
through the forest pausing once in a while to stalk a deer, or 
shoot some of the pretty pheasants. The timber grew smaller 
and thinner, while the chilled winds from the mountains threat- 
ened the safety of their tents at night. Having pitched a 
camp the hunter, the shikari and another sturdy looking man, 
went off in search of game. The hunter soon discovered why 
so few experienced sportsmen were able to show a markhor's 
head among their collections. This beautiful goat will often 
lie in the shelter of a huge rock, or tiny cave, during the heat 
of the day only emerging to eat at sunrise or sunset. Then it 
chooses the most inaccessible places to live in. Four days this 
trio scoured the surrounding mountains only to return to camp 
at night empty-handed.. At length, as the sun tipped a distant 
ridge, and lit up the gloomy forbidding depths of the valley, 
the hunter saw with delio^ht a fine e^oat far out on the face of a 
precipice. Using the utmost caution a stalk was made, with 
the result that it was found impossible to get closer than 
two thousand feet to the orame without beings seen. To risk a 
shot at that distance at such a small object, only imperfectly 
seen, was sheer folly ; besides the hunter's rifle was not fitted 
with telescopic sights. There was nothing to do but to give up. 
On another day the trio found a small markhor herd feeding 
high up on a precipice. They proceeded at once to get into a 
favorable position, when the guide stopped suddenly with a 
short exclamation of dismay. Over the huge mountain crests 
swept a great bank of clouds which soon blotted everything 
out and later a slight fall of snow occurred. To risk findinor 
the camp again was impossible, and as it was near sunset there 
was nothing to do but to seek shelter nearby. The shikari 



THE MARKHOR 



finally decided to stay between two enormous boulders. The 
wind increased in violence, which was really a benefit for it 
drove the snow over their shelter instead of hemming them in. 
They had very little food with them and but two blankets 
among three men. The shikari ingeniously laid the blankets 
so that the three were able to roll up tight in one heap. The 
mountaineer called upon the Gods of the Hills for protection 
and then, being a true philosopher, he went to sleep without 
more ado. The shikari said, "Sahib, we are perfectly safe, so 
take your rest," but something in the man's voice showed that 
he was lying. The next morning the hunter could hardly move, 
his limbs were numbed and his head ached, for spending a 
stormy night in the open, with hardly any shelter, 16.000 
feet up in the Himalayas, would try the strength of any man. 

The snowfall had been only slight and the shikari proposed 
that they make at once for the camp. The hunter was now 
able to walk fairly well. On the way down they ran across a 
fresh markhor trail in the snow, the hunter insisted that they 
follow it up, and the shikari reluctantly obeyed. He admired 
the sahib's pluck, but doubted the wisdom of undertaking a 
stalk while he was in a run-down condition. They had not 
gone far when the hunter collapsed entirely. Without a word 
the giant shikari shouldered the unconscious form, and strode 
away to the camp. 

Warm food and drink and a cot to lie on soon brought the 
hunter round but his people were in the depth of gloom fore- 
seeing a barren ending to all their work. On the third day 
the hunter sent for the shikari to come to his tent, and told him 
that before sunrise the next morning he would be ready to 
start on another hunt, declaring that he would not leave the 
mountains till he got a markhor's head. The shikari could 



THE MARKHOR 




hardly believe his ears, but his face lighted with a grim smile 
as he said, "The sahib shall be obeyed, for his courage is very 
great. Now I know how your ancestors conquered India." 

The hunter was as good as his word. Daylight found them 
high up near the snowline, but again they were disappointed 
for no markhor were sighted. The next day the camp was moved 
some miles on to an even wilder region. The climbing here 
was more difficult than any they had met with. Over the camp 
fire the shikari asked the hunter where he had learned to know 
the hills, and far into the night the grim old mountaineer 
listened to the stories of scrambles in the Rockies, the Sierra 
Nevada, the Selkirks, and the Andes. At the end he grunted 
approval and said, " I should like to hunt in that far away 
land. This moose you talk of must be a king of beasts." 

The next day broke bright and clear, and an early start was 
made. Before very long a herd of markhor were sighted, and 
this time closer in range than had previously been seen. 
The shikari and the hunter crawled forward on hands and 



THE MARKHOR 



knees using the huge rocks as shelters. The stalk was most 
exhausting, the loose scree tore their clothes in shreds, while 
their hands and knees were covered with blood. But the spirit 
of the chase was on them both and they paid no attention to 
their wounds. At length, reaching a high point of rocks, they 
peered cautiously over. The herd was not far away. Getting 
his breath back and taking his time, the hunter made a 
careful shot and when the smoke cleared a markhor groat fell 
dead ! The hunter was wild with delight, and was for scram- 
bling off at once to the game, but the old shikari restrained 
him, saying, " Be careful, sahib, that you do not climb down 
where you cannot get up again. What would be the use of 
reaching the goat, you could not carry it away ? Have patience 
and we will get help." 

So they sent back to camp, and presently the coolies arrived 
bringing with them a long rope. One of their number was 
lowered some two hundred feet down the face of the cliff to the 
ledge on which the body lay. A series of jerks on the rope 
was a signal to draw up and in a few minutes the dead 
markhor arrived at the top. 

The hunter found to his sorrow that while the head was a 
fine one, the horns were without the wonderful corkscrew 
formation he so much desired, but still It was a fine markhor 
specimen for all that, 

Three days later the hunter chanced a long shot at the 
leader of a small herd. The bullet took effect, for the goat, 
after making half a dozen springs, rolled over the precipice, 
and went bounding down about eight hundred feet striking 
the rocks in its fall. When the shikari and the hunter reached 
the body they found it battered nearly to pieces, but the horns 
being of stouter stuff were only badly bruised. Above all 



THE RIARKHOR 




they were fine specimens of the rare and coveted spiral shape. 
In truth the markhor's horns may be divided under three 
heads, first the variety having a graceful spiral form ; second, 
the kind In spiral form, but nearly straight, looking like a huge 
drill ; thirdly the horns nearly straight and having no twist 
to them at all. The hunter was satisfied with his success, so 
camp was broken and a return made to the Vale of Kashmir. 



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